Evaluation of Friction and Wear Behavior of Date Palm Fruit Syrup as an Environmentally Friendly Lubricant

Abstract

The effect of various operational factors, such as sliding speed, normal load and temperature on the tribological properties of Date palm fruit syrup (DPFS) as an environmentally friendly lubricant, is investigated. Ball-on-disc wear tests are conducted on mild steel samples in the presence of DPFS as a lubricant under different conditions and the coefficient of friction and wear rate are measured. Scanning electron microscopy, stylus profilometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy are used to evaluate the wear tracks to determine the underlying wear mechanisms. Results showed that DPFS has excellent tribological properties in terms of low friction and low wear rates making it a potential candidate to be used as a lubricant in tribological applications.

Tribological Performance of Environmentally Friendly Bio-Degradable Lubricants Based on a Combination of Boric Acid and Bio-Based Oils

“…Good tribological properties can be attributed to the presence of fatty acids such as palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid. Tahir et al [ 29 ] also tested the tribological properties of date palm fruit syrup in a pin-on-disc test. Abdulqadir et al [ 30 ] tested the possibility of applying various vegetable oils such as black soap, ground nut oil, sheabutter oil and red palm oil for SMF processes.…”