The Effect of Ultrasonic Treatment of a Lubricating Oil on the Operation of a Tribological Assembly and the Assessment of the Residual Effects in the Oil

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of the operation of a “roller—pad” friction pair under the influence of ultrasonic vibrations with a frequency of 8–17 kHz on lubricating oil. Further, the surface tension coefficient and the lubricating oil temperature during its processing in the frequency range of 8–43 kHz is evaluated. It has been established that both ultrasonic treatment of lubricating oil and the increase in the frequency of the treatment significantly improve the operating conditions of the friction pair, reducing the linear wear of samples, the rates of the wear of moving and fixed samples of friction pairs and the wear factor number. It has been established that the surface tension coefficient of synthetic motor oil, decreasing to the minimum value during the first 120 h of ultrasonic treatment, is maintained at this level for more than 72 h.