Tribological Mechanism of Graphene and Ionic Liquid Mixed Fluid on Grinding Interface under Nanofluid Minimum Quantity Lubrication

Graphene has superhigh thermal conductivity up to 5000 W/(m·K),extremely thin thickness,superhigh mechanical strength and nano-lamellar structure with low interlayer shear strength,making it possess great potential in mini-mum quantity lubrication(MQL)grinding.Meanwhile,ionic liquids(ILs)have higher thermal conductivity and better thermal stability than vegetable oils,which are frequently used as MQL grinding fluids.And ILs have extremely low vapor pressure,thereby avoiding film boiling in grinding.These excellent properties make ILs also have immense potential in MQL grinding.However,the grinding performance of graphene and ionic liquid mixed fluid under nano-fluid minimum quantity lubrication(NMQL),and its tribological mechanism on abrasive grain/workpiece grinding interface,are still unclear.This research firstly evaluates the grinding performance of graphene and ionic liquid mixed nanofluids(graphene/IL nanofluids)under NMQL experimentally.The evaluation shows that graphene/IL nanofluids can further strengthen both the cooling and lubricating performances compared with MQL grinding using ILs only.The specific grinding energy and grinding force ratio can be reduced by over 40%at grinding depth of 10μm.Work-piece machined surface roughness can be decreased by over 10%,and grinding temperature can be lowered over 50℃at grinding depth of 30μm.Aiming at the unclear tribological mechanism of graphene/IL nanofluids,molecular dynamics simulations for abrasive grain/workpiece grinding interface are performed to explore the formation mechanism of physical adsorption film.The simulations show that the grinding interface is in a boundary lubrication state.IL molecules absorb in groove-like fractures on grain wear flat face to form boundary lubrication film,and graphene nanosheets can enter into the grinding interface to further decrease the contact area between abrasive grain and workpiece.Compared with MQL grinding,the average tangential grinding force of graphene/IL nanofluids can decrease up to 10.8%.The interlayer shear effect and low interlayer shear strength of graphene nanosheets are the principal causes of enhanced lubricating performance on the grinding interface.EDS and XPS analyses are further carried out to explore the formation mechanism of chemical reaction film.The analyses show that IL base fluid happens chemical reactions with workpiece material,producing FeF_(2),CrF_(3),and BN.The fresh machined surface of workpiece is oxidized by air,producing NiO,Cr_(2)O_(3) and Fe_(2)O_(3).The chemical reaction film is constituted by fluorides,nitrides and oxides together.The combined action of physical adsorption film and chemical reaction film make graphene/IL nano-fluids obtain excellent grinding performance.

Rodent-mediated plant community competition:what happens to the seeds after entering the adjacent stands?

Background:Seed dispersal by scatter-hoarding animals can affect the developmental dynamics of plant communities.However,how animals might participate in plant inter-community competition has rarely been investigated.Forest community junction is an area where the competition between plant communities is most prominent and animal activity is more frequent.At present,little is known about how scatter-hoarding animals might assist competitions by adjacent plant communities.Thus,for 3 years(2015–2017),we tracked the fate of 2880 tagged seeds(Quercus aliena var.acuteserrata,Pinus tabuliformis,and P.armandii seed)placed near an edge where the forest composition changes from a pine forest to an oak forest in northwestern China.Results:We found that the seed fates differed when Quercus and Pinus seeds entered adjacent stands.In contrast to Pinus seeds,acorns that entered pine forests were characterized by higher caching rates and longer dispersal distances.Pinus seeds had the highest probability of being predated(85%)by rodents,and eleven Q.aliena var.acuteserrata seedlings were established in pine forests,although none survived in the later stages.In addition,rodents exhibited obvious selectivity in terms of the microhabitats for the seed caching sites.Conclusions:Seed fates differed when Quercus and Pinus seeds entered adjacent stands.The predation pressure by rodents on the seeds of Pinus species limited the germination of seeds and seedling establishment in oak forests.The different seed fates after their bidirectional dispersal could affect the differences in natural regeneration between pine and oak forests,and they might increase the recruitment rates for oak at the edge of an adjacent community.Rodent-mediated seed dispersal could potential unintentionally affect the competition between plant communities.

Dependences of longleaf pine(Pinus palustris) natural reproduction on environments above ground

We studied relations between natural seedling reproduction and above ground environment in a longleaf pine ecosystem. Forty-eight 0.05 ha circular plots were sampled under single-tree selection, group-tree selection and control stands in three main longleaf pine areas in south Alabama, USA. We measured six above-ground environment factors, viz. canopy closure, stand density, basal area, average tree height, understory cover and PAR under canopy. We employed forward, back-ward and stepwise selection regression to produce one model. Three main variables：canopy closure, stand density and basal area, were left in the model; light, PAR and understory cover were not incorporated into the model at the 0.10 significance level. Basal area was a positive pa-rameter, while canopy closure and stand density were negative parame-ters. Canopy closure was the main parameter in the model. The model proved to be meaningful, and has potential to provide useful guidance for future work.

Tribological mechanism of carbon group nanofluids on grinding interface under minimum quantity lubrication based on molecular dynamic simulation

Carbon group nanofluids can further improve the friction-reducing and anti-wear properties of minimum quantity lubrication(MQL).However,the formation mechanism of lubrication films generated by carbon group nanofluids on MQL grinding interfaces is not fully revealed due to lack of sufficient evidence.Here,molecular dynamic simulations for the abrasive grain/workpiece interface were conducted under nanofluid MQL,MQL,and dry grinding conditions.Three kinds of carbon group nanoparticles,i.e.,nanodiamond(ND),carbon nanotube(CNT),and graphene nanosheet(GN),were taken as representative specimens.The[BMIM]BF4 ionic liquid was used as base fluid.The materials used as workpiece and abrasive grain were the single-crystal Ni–Fe–Cr series of Ni-based alloy and single-crystal cubic boron nitride(CBN),respectively.Tangential grinding force was used to evaluate the lubrication performance under the grinding conditions.The abrasive grain/workpiece contact states under the different grinding conditions were compared to reveal the formation mechanism of the lubrication film.Investigations showed the formation of a boundary lubrication film on the abrasive grain/workpiece interface under the MQL condition,with the ionic liquid molecules absorbing in the groove-like fractures on the grain wear’s flat face.The boundary lubrication film underwent a friction-reducing effect by reducing the abrasive grain/workpiece contact area.Under the nanofluid MQL condition,the carbon group nanoparticles further enhanced the tribological performance of the MQL technique that had benefited from their corresponding tribological behaviors on the abrasive grain/workpiece interface.The behaviors involved the rolling effect of ND,the rolling and sliding effects of CNT,and the interlayer shear effect of GN.Compared with the findings under the MQL condition,the tangential grinding forces could be further reduced by 8.5%,12.0%,and 14.1%under the diamond,CNT,and graphene nanofluid MQL conditions,respectively.