Enormous potential to improve the energy efficiency of sintered sliding bearing by the use of an adapted mesogenic fluid is demonstrated.
A specific composition was identified to reduce the melting point of the mesogenic fluid.
A 5-times lower coefficient of friction is achieved in an application oriented radial bearing test by using a mesogenic fluid in contrast to reference oil.
Chemical interaction of the mesogenic fluid and the material strongly influence the tribological behavior due the tribochemical formation of a metal-chelate complex.
The addition of 2% alumina to 100Cr6 steel clearly improves the tribological properties and therefore a new promising material composition was identified.