Thermohydrodynamics of lubricant flow with carbon nanoparticles in tribological contacts.pdfVIP

Tribology International (xxxx) xxxx–xxxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tribology International journal homepage: /locate/triboint Thermohydrodynamics of lubricant ?ow with carbon nanoparticles in tribological contacts H. Shahmohamadia,b,?, R. Rahmania, H. Rahnejata, C.P. Garnera, N. Balodimosc a Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK b Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA c Specialist Lubricants Ltd., Livingston, UK ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Multiphase ?ow Lagrangian model Cavitation Nanolubricant (nano?uid) Sliding contact Friction Heat transfer ABSTRACT This paper deals with the tribological performance of carbon nanoparticles dispersed in polyalphaole?n PAO6 oil. Stribeck curves are obtained under various operating conditions, using a fully instrumented pin-on-disc tribometer under controlled conditions. A detailed multi-physics thermal ?uid ?ow model with Lagrangian low concentration discrete solid phase and Eulerian multi-phase ?uid with cavitation represented by modi?ed Rayleigh-Plesset and vapour transport equation is presented. The numerical predictions under identical conditions to the experiments show good conformance with the measurements, and provide a fundamental understanding of the role of nanoparticles. Results show improved heat transfer from the contact with the presence of nanoparticles even at low levels of concentration. The analysis shows that this leads to higher lubricant viscosity, load carrying capacity and reduced friction. Furthermore, a resulting small region of cavitation at low volume fraction does not unduly a?ect the enhanced heat transfer of nanoparticles. This combined experimentation and detailed numerical analysis has not hitherto been reported in literature. 1. Introduction Nano?uids are essentially stable and durable colloidal suspensions made of nanoparticles w