Usage of defined nanofluids for tribological applications

Contact person: Christian Köhn

Cooling lubricants are used in grinding processes in order to cool and lubricate the grinding zone as well as to remove chips. Traditionally, mineral oil based cooling lubricants are used in large quantities (so called flood lubrication). However, nowadays the trend to use only small amounts of environmentally friendly lubricants can be observed (so called minimum quantity lubrication). A tremendous improvement of cooling lubricant properties can be achieved by addition of nanoparticles (additives). In this project nanofluids with different physical-chemical properties are prepared for tribological tests, such as the Reichert test, carried out at the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF).

Figure 1: steps of the process route for this project

Objectives and tasks of the iPAT:

preparation of various combinations of NPs and base fluids, such as metal oxides in glycerine-water, with different physical-chemical properties
detailed analytical characterization of particles and fluids (viscosity, crystallinity, stability, thermal properties, particle size)
usage of stabilizers, ligands and additives to modify the surface of the NPs and/or to adapt physical-chemical properties of nanofluids
understand the interactions between particles, base fluid and additives in nanofluids
development of models for characteristic nanofluid properties
correlation between physical-chemical properties and tribological performance
analytical characterization of the workpiece surface after tribological tests

Cooperation partner:

Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF)

Usage of defined nanofluids for tribological applications

For All Visitors

For Students

Internal Tools

Contact