Tribological performance of various blends of commercial SAE 40 oil and novel apricot oil-based bio-lubricant using a four-ball tester tribometer

Conventional petroleum-based lubricants have numerous environmental and toxic issues related to their disposal. As a result, there is a growing interest in developing innovative environmentally friendly oils as lubricants. A novel apricot oil-based bio-lubricant was developed in the present research work. Its tribological performance was analysed using a four-ball tester compared with SAE 40 oil and blends of SAE 40 and developed bio-lubricant. A four-ball testing method (ASTM D4172) is a test for determining the wear-preventative features of a lubricant. It was observed that the optimum blend of SAE 40 and bio-lubricant had shown better extreme pressure performance than apricot oil-based bio-lubricant and SAE 40 alone.