THE EFFECT OF HYDROGEN IN LUBRICATED FRICTIONAL COUPLES

The tribological experiments under circumstances of hydrodynamic and e lastohydrodynamic lubrication, the immersion test in lubricating oil a s well as the exposure test to the environment have been performed to elucidate the effect of hydrogen on soft and hardened surface layers. The occurrence of the effect of hydrogen tribosorption in lubricated f rictional nodes has been confirmed. This effect proceeds at a differen t rate and in a different way for nitrided surface layers (and homolog ous layers), on the one hand, and for other soft or hardened surface l ayers on the other. The most probable mechanisms of the tribosorption for both the cases mentioned above have been presented and the signifi cance of that phenomenon for the theory as well as for practical opera tion has been discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.