Friction Reduction
Researchers: Professor Alex Routh, Beatrice Boggio-Robutti
The Problem
In moving systems, a significant proportion of energy is lost to friction. It is important to reduce these losses to increase energy efficiency.
Work Needed
We need to better understand how successful lubricants reduce friction in order to develop other effective lubricants.
Our Work
We have been investigating the structure of friction modifiers by building a neutron beam line tribometer, and we hope to apply our findings to the lubrication of wind turbines.
Background
- In the EU, 20% of all CO2 emissions are from road transport and 61% of this is from cars.
- Lubricants are added to machines with moving parts to minimize wear and also reduce friction.
- A significant proportion of fuel energy in transport is lost to friction.
Organic friction modifiers are added to engine oil formulations to reduce friction between two surfaces and can have dramatic effects on this loss of energy, with friction reductions of up to a factor 5, but little is known about how these modifiers actually work…
Our Work
We were motivated to investigate what it is about the structure of these modifiers that causes friction reduction in order to move towards finding other effective lubricants. How these molecules align themselves at moving metal parts and how they reduce friction is debated, so we developed a technique to reveal what is happening at the interface.
In response, we built a neutron beam line tribometer to allow a well-defined shear to be applied to a surface. The tribometer works by reflecting a neutron beam from the surface to interrogate the organic friction molecules.
Our results are extremely exciting, with unexpected conformation of molecules and further reductions in friction observed.
The Tribometer
Collaboration
This project has taken place in collaboration with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and ISIS neutron beamline, University of Edinburgh as well as the company Infineum UK.
Future Directions
We are starting to investigate how these findings can be applied to wind turbines to enhance energy efficiency and reduce wear and maintenance costs – critical considerations for this key component of the energy transition. Given the remote locations of wind turbines, minimising bearing damage through effective lubricant use is especially important.
Publications
Alexander J. Armstrong, Thomas M. McCoy, Rebecca J. L. Welbourn, Robert Barker, Jonathan Rawle, Beatrice Cattoz, Peter J. Dowding, and Alexander F. Routh, Towards a high-shear neutron and X-ray reflectometry environment for the study of surface-active materials at solid-liquid interfaces, Scientific Reports 11:9713 2021
Alexander J. Armstrong, Rui F. G. Apostolo, Thomas M. McCoy, Finian J. Allen, Rebecca J. L. Welbourn, James Doutch, Beatrice N. Cattoz, Peter J. Dowding, Alexander F. Routh, and Philip J. Camp, Experimental and Simulation Study of Self-Assembly and Surface Adsorption of Glycerol Monooleate in n-Dodecane onto Iron Oxide. Nanoscale 16: 1952-1970 2024.