Study on Friction and Wear Properties of Water Lubricated Rubber Bearing
The friction and wear properties of the water lubricated rubber bearing, made of the nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), were studied in this article. The results showed that adding the appropriate amounts of carbon black and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) could reduce the friction coefficient and the abrasion loss to the minimum values. Meanwhile, the general laws of the two parameters with different loads, rotational speeds and lubricant media have been discovered: the values of friction coefficient and abrasion loss of the rubber bearing, lubricated in both water and seawater, increase firstly and then gradually decrease with the increasing loads.When the loads exceed 500N, the values increase drastically. And the values of friction coefficient and abrasion loss decline with the increasing rotating speed. Moreover, the values of these two parameters in seawater were a little bit higher than those in water. The friction and wear mechanisms of water lubricated rubber bearing were also discussed..