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Worn surfaces of bronze specimen lubricated with:
- (a) base lubricant: engine oil (SAE20W40)
- (b) base lubricant + 0.5 wt.% boric acid nanolubrican
Assessed on a linear reciprocating ball-on-flat tribometer
https://sci-hub.ru/https://link.spri...665-018-3384-9
Now I'm no tribologist but common sense says to me that a layer of engine oil on the (b) surface is going to lubricate better as there's nowhere for the oil to escape to out the way of another surface sliding/'gliding' over it..?
ie:
We use rough tar roads and treaded tires so that a film of water doesn't form under a moving car's tires, making it lose traction right..?
Similar story, except we WANT to lose traction.
Then... If the surface underneath the oil is super slippery; does it matter if the oil escapes?
Common sense also tells me that if you remove 2 microns of play out of a sleeve bearing; the smaller (much smoother) gap should be better at keeping the oil film doing what it's supposed to be doing: Keeping the surfaces from touching..?
If a piston and rings are 1 micron bigger in diameter and the sleeve 1 micron smaller, due to a super slippery and ...er... squishable layer that fills in pits etc like that, what will happen?
Not only to friction, but to compression too?
Not only that, but isn't an oil that's forced to flow fast over a surface likely to flow faster over a smooth one..?
Then there's the bit of charge that hides in the U-shape between the piston, sleeve and top ring that is an issue for performance/economy and emissions.
Engine builders are trying to put the 1st ring as high up as possible to minimize this.
I would say that that gap is much smaller with 0.5 microns added to each surface.
Wouldn't you..?
