International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology E-ISSN 2277 – 4106, P-ISSN 2347 – 5161 ©2015 INPRESSCO ® , All Rights Reserved Available at http://inpressco.com/category/ijcet Research Article 1109| International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.5, No.2 (April 2015) Enhancement of Wear Performance of Commercial Lubricant using Zinc (Zn) Nano-Particles as Anti-Wear Additive under Mixed Lubrication Conditions S. M. Muzakkir †* Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India Accepted 08 April 2015, Available online 14 April 2015, Vol.5, No.2 (April 2015) Abstract In the present work, experimental investigation has been carried out to identify the effectiveness of employing Zinc (Zn) nano-particles in varying quantities (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% by weight) as anti-wear additive in a lubricant on the wear of the sliding surfaces. The block on disk configuration-setup has been used to conduct experiments. The wear of the block is measured as its weight loss after the test. The results of the experiments have been reported. Keywords: Zinc nano-particles, anti-wear additive, Wear, Mixed lubrication, Lubricant additive. 1. Introduction 1 The severity of the operating conditions (heavy load and slow speed) prevent the hydrodynamic conditions and causes mechanical contact between the tribo pairs resulting in wear (Muzakkir et al. 2011). Much efforts have been made in the past to separate the tribo pairs operating in these conditions and many alternative technologies have been suggested to separate the contacting surfaces (S.M. Muzakkir et al. 2014; Samanta & Hirani 2008; Samanta, P Hirani 2007; H. Hirani et al. 2001; Lijesh & Hirani 2015a; Shankar et al. 2006; Chittlangia et al. 2014; Lijesh & Hirani 2015b; Lijesh & Hirani 2015c; Lijesh & Hirani 2014; Hirani & Samanta 2007; Samanta & Hirani 2006; Hirani 2005; Hirani et al. 2000b; Hirani & Verma 2009; Hirani & Suh 2005; Hirani 2004; Talluri & Hirani 2003; H Hirani et al. 2001; Hirani et al. 2000a; Hirani et al. 1999b; Hirani et al. 1999a; Hirani et al. 1998; Muzakkir et al. 2015). Several anti-wear lubricant additives like Tungsten Disulphide (WS2), Molybdenum Disulphide, Carbon Nano-tubes, etc are effective under mixed lubrication conditions. The Zinc (Zn) nano-particle is also being used as anti-wear lubricant additive (Muzakkir et al. 2013). The Zinc forms an anti-wear tribo-film on the surface and prevents wear of the surface. The tribo- film is extremely thin with its thickness varying from few nanometers to several hundred nanometers being dependent mainly on the quantity of Zinc and operating temperature (Nicholls et al. 2005). In the present work, experimental investigations have been carried out to determine the effect of adding *Corresponding author: S. M. Muzakkir Zinc (Zn) nano-particles as anti-wear additive in a commercial lubricant on the wear of the sliding surfaces with varying quantities ranging from 0.5% to 1.5% by weight. The experiments were conducted on a block and disk test setup. The wear of the block is measured as its weight loss. The results of the experiments are reported. 2. Experimental details In the present work, wear tests were carried out on a block and disk test setup. The photograph and schematic diagram of the test setup is shown in Fig. 1 and 2. Fig.1 Photograph of block and disk test setup (S. M. Muzakkir et al. 2014)