Aging model for solid lubricants used in weapon stronglinks: tribological performance and hardware review

摘要

The solid lubricant used most extensively in strong links throughout the enduring stockpile contains MoS2, which is known to react with oxygen and water vapor resulting in a change in the material's friction and wear behavior. The authors have examined the frictional behavior of this lubricant as a function of oxidation, in support of efforts to quantify the impact of changes in the material on the dynamic behavior of the MC2969 strong link. Their results show that the friction response of oxidized lubricant is strongly influenced by the amount of burnishing performed on the lubricant after deposition. In addition to the fundamental differences in steady state behavior, they have shown that the initial friction coefficient on oxidized surfaces is related to the amount of sulfide converted to sulfate, regardless of the oxidation conditions used. Measurements on parts returned from the stockpile show that the friction behavior of aged hardware is consistent with the behavior observed on controlled substrates containing thin lubricant films.