Effect of Gear Surface and Lubricant Interaction on Mild Wear

In this study, a twin-disc test machine was used to simulate a rolling/sliding gear contact for three surface finishes, each run with two types of lubricants, thus seeking to develop insight into the tooth flank/lubricant tribological system. The test disc surfaces were case-carburised before the surfaces were produced by: transverse grinding followed by a mechanical abrasive polishing process; transverse grinding only; and transverse grinding followed by preheating as a final finishing step (intended to enhance the build-up of an easily sheared surface boundary layer using a sulphur additive). The twin-disc contact was lubricated with an ester-based environmentally adapted lubricant or a polyalphaolefin-based commercial heavy truck gearbox lubricant. To obtain information about the composition of chemically reacted surface layers, the specimens used were analysed using glow discharge-optical emission spectroscopy. The results indicate that the interactions between different surface finishes and lubricants have different impacts on friction behaviour, wear and the reacted surface boundary layer formed by the lubricant. Running a smooth (polished) surface with the appropriate lubricant drastically reduces the friction. Surface analysis of the ground surfaces gives clear differences in lubricant characteristics. The commercial lubricant does not seem to react chemically with the surface to the same extent as the EAL does. Micropitting was found on all ground discs with both lubricants, though at different rates. The highest amount of wear but less surface damage (i.e. micropits) was found on the preheated surface run with the commercial lubricant.