ARS | Publication request: BOUNDARY FRICTION PROPERTIES OF VEGETABLE OILS

Submitted to: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 24, 2001
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Vegetable oil based lubricants are increasingly being considered as a replacement for mineral oils. This has been mainly due to their biodegradability, which eliminates environmental problems traditionally associated with lubricant production, blending, use and disposal. Vegetable oils are also preferred substitute for mineral oils because they are based on abundantly available and renewable raw materials. Vegetable oils are usually composed of mixtures of triglycerides with various combinations of fatty acid residues. The exact composition of the triglycerides in vegetable oils depends on the species of vegetable from which it has been extracted. For example, the ratio of oleic to linoleic acid residues in safflower oil and high oleic safflower oil are 18:73 and 78:13, respectively. Such variations in oil chemistry will have profound effect on the lubrication properties of vegetable oils. In this paper, we discuss our recent investigation into the effect of vegetable oil chemistry on steel/steel coefficient of friction under boundary conditions.