A Fundamental Investigation of the Tribological Performance of Mahua-Castor Blend in a Four-Ball Tester

The scrutinized investigation of tribological performance of castor- mahua oil blends was comprehensively studied in comparison to SAE 20W40. Better miscibility and the negligible difference in density is the prime motive for the formulation of castor-mahua oil blend. Ten different blends are assimilated in the current investigation, and two better blends are utilized for further investigations of speed variations along with pure castor oil (B0) for the reference. The effect of speed variation of 1200 rpm, 900 rpm, 600 rpm, and 300 rpm were incorporated for better blends obtained in the inquiry. Blends B2(75 wt% of castor and 25 wt% of mahua oil) and B5(50 wt% of castor and 50 wt% of Mahua) showed extremely better tribological performance with 26.19% and 32.16% diminishment in coefficient of friction (COF), respectively, in comparison to SAE20W40. The variation of wear rate with speed and surface morphology of the balls are analyzed in the research work. The effect of vibration on the tribological parameters is investigated with an accelerometer equipment. All the results obtained from the research inquiry demonstrate the fact that castor mahua oil blends are promising and potential replacements for conventional synthetic oils.