Thermal Stability and Lubrication Properties of Biodegradable Castor Oil on AISI 4140 Steel

Lubricants have much importance in several industries, principally serving to reduce friction and wear in mechanical elements. In this study, the influence of Castor oil as bio-lubricant on the friction and wear performance of AISI 4140 steel was investigated. For that purpose, pin-on-disk friction tests were conducted according to ASTM G-99, by using pins of tungsten carbide (WC) as counterparts. The experiments were performed at two different temperatures. This work also presents the Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and 1H-NMR analyses for the chemical characterization of oils and a study of their degradation by oxidation. The analysis of the damage caused to steel due to friction was deepened by analyzing its microhardness and microstructure in the worn zone. As a reference, the same experiments were performed with a commercial oil. The friction behavior of 4140 steel/WC with Castor oil lubrication at the two temperatures was notably better than that obtained under the reference oil lubrication. The kinetic friction coefficient (µk) was up to 76% lower. However, a slight increase in steel wear was observed under Castor oil lubrication. Despite this, these results suggest that Castor oil could be used as bio-lubricant in systems which are susceptible to levels of high friction.