Molecular dynamics simulation of surface energy and ZDDP effects on friction in nano-scale lubricated contacts

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the tribological performance of a lubricant mixture containing hexadecane base oil and 5% zinc dithiophosphate (ZDDP) under molecular confinement conditions. The influence of ZDDP additive and the surface–lubricant interaction on the mechanical and thermal interfacial response are studied in detail. Results show that mechanical and thermal slips are reduced by increasing the surface energy. Simulations also demonstrate the migration of ZDDP molecules and their adsorption onto the solid surface resulting in a remarkable suppression of mechanical slip compared to pure hexadecane. Consequently, the effective shear rate is higher and so is the friction.