Energy Sources Part A-recovery Utilization and Environmental Effects, Vol.32, No.3, 275-285, 2010
Lubrication Properties of Vegetable Oils Combined with Boric Acid and Determination of Their Effects on Wear
Lubrication is essential in increasing a mechanical component's service duration and minimizing wear. Though synthetic and petrol-based oils are generally used in lubricants today, natural oils which are environment-friendly, biologically decomposable, and whose waste does not give harm to the environment have also begun to be used as lubricants recently thanks to an increasing awareness of the environment. In the present study, vegetable-oil based canola oil and boric acid were combined and their wear performance was investigated. In the experiments, wear performances of commercial mineral oil, pure canola oil, and a combination of canola oil and boric acid were compared on a pin-on-disc test apparatus at a constant speed of 1.5 ms(-1) and under various weights of 60, 120, and 180 N. The layer structure of crystalline boric acid particles can slide over each other with relative ease and can reduce friction and wear.