Enhancing AW/EP property of lubricant oil by adding nano Al/Sn particles

This paper presents results of experiments to enhance antiwear/extreme pressure (AW/EP) properties of a lubricant oil by adding metal nano particles. In this experiment, Al, Sn and Al + Sn nano-particles were selected as trial additives. The AW and EP properties were evaluated on Four-Ball test machine, while the feature and composition of the wear scar surface were investigated by scan electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersion spectrum (EDS). The test results show that the AW and EP performance can be improved within a wide load range by adding Al + Sn nanoparticles. Analysis of the enhancement mechanism has also been conducted in this experiment and presented in this paper. It is found that nano-Sn particles can be deposited on the friction surface when the pressure was moderate and act as AW additive. It is also found that the nano-Al particles can be deposited under the condition of high load pressure and act as EP additive. Thus, the AW and EP properties of tested lubricant oil have been improved at the same time due to adding both Al and Sn.