Comparative Study of Vegetable Oil as Lubricant for Aluminium 6063-T6 Alloy

Abstract

The present study investigates the performance of different food grade vegetable oil for lubrication of aluminum 6063-T6. In this study, comparisons of five oils, i.e., soyabean oil, sunflower oil, refined bleached and deodorized (RBD) Palmolein and peanut oil with straight cutting oil as lubricant (without water soluble). Design of experiment is based on taguchi L9 orthogonal array where input parameters are disc RPM, sliding distance and load and output parameters are pin temperature, wear rate, and frictional force. Observed results are compared and relation for output parameter with input parameter is deduced. It is found that optimum kinematic viscosity of food grade vegetable oil as a lubricant at room temperature, i.e., 25^oC to 35^oC is 0.45 to 0.55 stokes. According to experimental results, the best performing fluids as lubricant are straight cutting oil, soyabean oil and groundnut oil. It is observed that heat removal property of soyabean oil, sunflower oil, groundnut oil and RBD palmolein oil is poor. The SEM images show the surface texture, which reveals the performance of all lubricant in the form of pits, and wear tracks.

Keywords: Lubrication, Wear Rate, Frictional force, Temperature, Viscosity

Cite this Article

Amol R. Solankee, Saili R. Kulkarni, Sanjay B. Chikalthankar. Comparative Study of Vegetable Oil as Lubricant for Aluminium 6063-T6 Alloy. Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2017; 6(2): 29–39p