Tribological characterisation of bio lubricant from cucurbita pepo L. seed oil

ABSTRACT

In recent years Bio-lubricants much desired in numerous applications in machineries due to their renewable characteristics, which have high biodegradable nature and produce fewer pollutants compared to mineral-based lubricants. Thus, in this paper, the effect of bio-lubricant (Cucurbita Pepo L. seed oil) on wear and friction characteristics in pin on disc tester is studied and compared with commercially available lubricant SAE20W40. Tests were conducted at different loads of 10 N, 50 N, 100 N, 150 N and 200 N at a constant speed of 3 m/s for 60 min to evaluate the behaviour of friction coefficient (COF) and wear at a temperature of 28°C and 100°C. It is observed from the results that, the COF decreases whereas, the wear increases with the rise in temperature and load. Cucurbita pepo L. seed oil (CPO) resulted in a lower wear rate in comparison to commercial SAE20W40. Wear scars on the surface lubricated with SAE20W40 show a rougher surface compared to the pin lubricated with CPO at both lower temperature (28°C) and higher temperature (100°C). This shows that CPO has better lubricity than SAE20W40. The present work indicates that CPO can be a possible substitute to mineral-based lubricant SAE20W40 for higher-temperature workplaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Cucurbita pepo L
• friction
• pin-on-disc
• wear

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their thanks to the Department of Energy Engineering, Assam Science and Technology University for providing the necessary equipment and their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.