Lubricating properties of vegetable oils and paraffinic oils with unsaturated fatty acids under high‐contact‐pressure conditions in four‐ball tests

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Abstract
The tribological properties of three kinds of vegetable oils of different composition under high‐contact‐pressure conditions were evaluated in four‐ball tests to elucidate the lubrication mechanism of vegetable oils. The types of fatty acids composing the triglycerides and the concentration of dissolved oxygen appeared mainly to control the lubricating performance. Therefore, glycerol and a paraffinic oil containing fatty acids were tested as a comparison. Further, the influences of fatty acid types, antioxidant additives, and dissolved oxygen in the oils on the lubricating performance were examined. It was shown that linolenic acid with three double bonds was the most effective at higher temperature, where the formation of a friction polymer was observed, although the addition of antioxidant additives suppressed the formation of the friction polymer but reduced the load‐carrying capacity.