Experimental research on lubrication performances of Fe3O4 magnetic fluid lubricant

As a novel lubricant, the magnetic fluid received wide attention in recent years. In order to study the lubrication performances of magnetic fluid lubricant, the viscosities of magnetic fluid lubricant with different concentration of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles had been tested based on capillary method. Room temperature wear tests of magnetic fluid lubricant were performed on the MMW-1 four ball tester, the influence of nanoparticle concentration, load and shear rate on the friction coefficient of lubricant and the worn of steel ball specimen had been studied. The result shown that the nanoparticles are influential in viscosity of lubricant. And when the concentration of nanoparticles was 4%, the magnetic fluid lubricant possessed optimal lubrication performances especially at working condition with higher load and shear rate.