Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles blended with lubricating oil on the tribological performance of the journal bearing

Abstract

This paper presents the performance analysis for plain and elliptical journal bearing operating with industrial lubricants. Titanium dioxide nanoparticle of size 40 nm is used as a lubricant additive to examine the performance of the bearing. Comparative analysis is carried out for three different lubricants with titanium dioxide (0.5% wt) nanoparticles. Performance of bearing is measured at speeds ranging from 500 r.p.m. to 1000 r.p.m. and at 1000 N load. The study of antiwear and antifriction properties for lubricants is carried out on four ball Tribo-tester for operating conditions specified by ASTM standards. An influence of titanium dioxide as an additive on the performance characteristics of the journal bearing such as pressure distribution, load carrying capacity, attitude angle, power loss, oil flow rate, side leakage, frictional force and temperature rise in a film is examined in this paper. The elliptical journal bearing improves the performance of a system over plain bearing operating with the same lubricant.