Wear ResistanceAnd Friction Reduction In Acrylo Nitrile Butadiene Rubber Through Hybrid Combination Of Graphite Flakes And Nano Tungsten Disulphide.

Friction and wear have considerable role in the life span of two interacting parts.Incorporation of nanofillers in polymers/elastomers matrix causes commendable changes in its tribologicalproperties. The main purpose of this work is to reduce the coefficient of friction and wear rate of Acrylo Nitrile Butadiene rubber (NBR).To achieve such objective traditionally well knownlubricants graphite(G),tungsten disulphide(WS2) and there hybrid combination was incorporated in NBR matrix. Effect of applied load (force) and concentration of fillers on tribological properties of NBR had been studied.The filler incorporation enhanced the hardnessby 8%, showed resistance to hydraulic oil and aging effect also got improved significantly. A particular optimized concentration of NBR with hybrid combination of 2% WS2 and 4% Graphite showed minimum coefficient of friction as well as wear rate. A hypothesis could be attributed that similar lamellar structure of WS2and Graphite along with formation of a stable nanoscale disulfide tribofilmcould result in lowering of friction.These substantially improved properties of nanoreinforced rubber materials would definitely pave promising path for plethora of potential technological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]