Impact of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive in Lithium Grease to Enhance the Tribological and Dynamic Performance of Roller Bearing

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have gained a lot of interest in recent years as a lubricant additive for enhancing sliding and rolling interactions in machine elements. The tribological characteristics and dynamic behavior of roller bearing lubricated with lithium base grease and MWCNTs blended lithium grease are investigated in this work. In this work, the parameters of traction coefficient, asperity load ratio, lubricant layer stiffness, micromorphology of the worn surface, and vibration analysis are evaluated for the 1000 h of bearing testing. The experimental analysis revealed significant increases in lubricant film stiffness and asperity load ratio using MWCNTs nanoparticles. The resulting decreases in vibration levels of the roller bearing lubricated with MWCNTs mixed with lithium grease verified these findings. By decreasing the traction coefficient value and dynamic behavior of the roller bearings findings demonstrated the advantages of adopting the MMWCNTs as additives in the grease-lubricated machine elements.