Characterisation of friction and lubrication regimes in premium tubular connections

A friction test rig has been developed to carry out repeated sliding friction tests for premium tubular connections. The test rig enables accurate measurement of friction in various contact regimes which are relevant to the threaded connections between tubular components. Higher load tests can simulate the contact in metal-to-metal seals under very high contact pressures by using perpendicular pin-on-pin tests. The contact in the thread loading flank under intermediate pressures can be simulated by using larger radius coupon-on-coupon tests. The measured coefficient of friction is well correlated with a lubrication parameter combining lubricant film thickness and initial surface roughness. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Mass-Conserving Algorithm for Dynamical Lubrication Problems With Cavitation

A numerical algorithm for fully dynamical lubrication problems based on the Elrod-Adams formulation of the Reynolds equation with mass-conserving boundary conditions is described. A simple but effective relaxation scheme is used to update the solution maintaining the complementarity conditions on the variables that represent the pressure and fluid fraction. The equations of motion are discretized in time using Newmark`s scheme, and the dynamical variables are updated within the same relaxation process just mentioned. The good behavior of the proposed algorithm is illustrated in two examples: an oscillatory squeeze flow (for which the exact solution is available) and a dynamically loaded journal bearing. This article is accompanied by the ready-to-compile source code with the implementation of the proposed algorithm. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3142903]

The boundary lubrication of chemically grafted and cross-linked hyaluronic acid in phosphate buffered saline and lipid solutions measured by the surface forces apparatus

High molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA) is present in articular joints and synovial fluid at high concentrations; yet despite numerous studies, the role of HA in joint lubrication is still not clear. Free HA in solution does not appear to be a good lubricant, being negatively charged and therefore repelled from most biological, including cartilage, surfaces. Recent enzymatic experiments suggested that mechanically or physically (rather than chemically) trapped HA could function as an “adaptive” or “emergency” boundary lubricant to eliminate wear damage in shearing cartilage surfaces. In this work, HA was chemically grafted to a layer of self-assembled amino-propyl-triethoxy-silane (APTES) on mica and then cross-linked. The boundary lubrication behavior of APTES and of chemically grafted and cross-linked HA in both electrolyte and lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) solutions was tested with a surface forces apparatus (SFA). Despite the high coefficient of friction (COF) of μ ≈ 0.50, the chemically grafted HA gel significantly improved the lubrication behavior of HA, particularly the wear resistance, in comparison to free HA. Adding more DOPC lipid to the solution did not improve the lubrication of the chemically grafted and cross-linked HA layer. Damage of the underlying mica surface became visible at higher loads (pressure >2 MPa) after prolonged sliding times. It has generally been assumed that damage caused by or during sliding, also known as “abrasive friction”, which is the main biomedical/clinical/morphological manifestation of arthritis, is due to a high friction force and, therefore, a large COF, and that to prevent surface damage or wear (abrasion) one should therefore aim to reduce the COF, which has been the traditional focus of basic research in biolubrication, particularly in cartilage and joint lubrication. Here we combine our results with previous ones on grafted and cross-linked HA on lipid bilayers, and lubricin-mediated lubrication, and conclude that for cartilage surfaces, a high COF can be associated with good wear protection, while a low COF can have poor wear resistance. Both of these properties depend on how the lubricating molecules are attached to and organized at the surfaces, as well as the structure and mechanical, viscoelastic, elastic, and physical properties of the surfaces, but the two phenomena are not directly or simply related. We also conclude that to provide both the low COF and good wear protection of joints under physiological conditions, some or all of the four major components of joints—HA, lubricin, lipids, and the cartilage fibrils—must act synergistically in ways (physisorbed, chemisorbed, grafted and/or cross-linked) that are still to be determined.

Molecular aspects of boundary lubrication by human lubricin : effect of disulfide bonds and enzymatic digestion

Lubricin (LUB) is a glycoprotein of the synovial cavity of human articular joints, where it serves as an antiadhesive, boundary lubricant, and regulating factor for the cartilage surface. It has been proposed that these properties are related to the presence of a long, extended, heavily glycosylated and highly hydrated mucinous domain in the central part of the LUB molecule. In this work, we show that LUB has a contour length of 220 ± 30 nm and a persistence length of ≤10 nm. LUB molecules aggregate in oligomers where the protein extremities are linked by disulfide bonds. We have studied the effect of proteolytic digestion by chymotrypsin and removal of the disulfide bonds, both of which mainly affect the N− and C− terminals of the protein, on the adsorption, normal forces, friction (lubrication) forces, and wear of LUB layers adsorbed on smooth, negatively charged mica surfaces, where the protein naturally forms lubricating polymer brush-like layers. After in situ digestion, the surface coverage was drastically reduced, the normal forces were altered, and both the coefficient of friction and the wear were dramatically increased (the COF increased to μ = 1.1−1.9), indicating that the mucinous domain was removed from the surface. Removal of disulfide bonds did not change the surface coverage or the overall features of the normal forces; however, we find an increase in the friction coefficient from μ = 0.02−0.04 to μ = 0.13−1.17 in the pressure regime below 6 atm, which we attribute to a higher affinity of the protein terminals for the surface. The necessary condition for LUB to be a good lubricant is that the protein be adsorbed to the surface via its terminals, leaving the central mucin domain free to form a low-friction, surface-protecting layer. Our results suggest that this “end-anchoring” has to be strong enough to impart the layer a sufficient resistance to shear, but without excessively restricting the conformational freedom of the adsorbed proteins.

Adsorption, lubrication, and wear of lubricin on model surfaces : polymer brush-like behavior of a glycoprotein

Using a surface force apparatus, we have measured the normal and friction forces between layers of the human glycoprotein lubricin, the major boundary lubricant in articular joints, adsorbed from buffered saline solution on various hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces: i), negatively charged mica, ii), positively charged poly-lysine and aminothiol, and iii), hydrophobic alkanethiol monolayers. On all these surfaces lubricin forms dense adsorbed layers of thickness 60–100 nm. The normal force between two surfaces is always repulsive and resembles the steric entropic force measured between layers of end-grafted polymer brushes. This is the microscopic mechanism behind the antiadhesive properties showed by lubricin in clinical tests. For pressures up to ∼6 atm, lubricin lubricates hydrophilic surfaces, in particular negatively charged mica (friction coefficient μ = 0.02–0.04), much better than hydrophobic surfaces (μ > 0.3). At higher pressures, the friction coefficient is higher (μ > 0.2) for all surfaces considered and the lubricin layers rearrange under shear. However, the glycoprotein still protects the underlying substrate from damage up to much higher pressures. These results support recent suggestions that boundary lubrication and wear protection in articular joints are due to the presence of a biological polyelectrolyte on the cartilage surfaces.

Adaptive mechanically controlled lubrication mechanism found in articular joints

Articular cartilage is a highly efficacious water-based tribological system that is optimized to provide low friction and wear protection at both low and high loads (pressures) and sliding velocities that must last over a lifetime. Although many different lubrication mechanisms have been proposed, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the tribological performance of cartilage cannot be attributed to a single mechanism acting alone but on the synergistic action of multiple "modes" of lubrication that are adapted to provide optimum lubrication as the normal loads, shear stresses, and rates change. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is abundant in cartilage and synovial fluid and widely thought to play a principal role in joint lubrication although this role remains unclear. HA is also known to complex readily with the glycoprotein lubricin (LUB) to form a cross-linked network that has also been shown to be critical to the wear prevention mechanism of joints. Friction experiments on porcine cartilage using the surface forces apparatus, and enzymatic digestion, reveal an "adaptive" role for an HA-LUB complex whereby, under compression, nominally free HA diffusing out of the cartilage becomes mechanically, i.e., physically, trapped at the interface by the increasingly constricted collagen pore network. The mechanically trapped HA-LUB complex now acts as an effective (chemically bound) "boundary lubricant"-reducing the friction force slightly but, more importantly, eliminating wear damage to the rubbing/shearing surfaces. This paper focuses on the contribution of HA in cartilage lubrication; however, the system as a whole requires both HA and LUB to function optimally under all conditions.

Synergistic interactions between grafted hyaluronic acid and lubricin provide enhanced wear protection and lubrication

Normal (e.g., adhesion) and lateral (friction) forces were measured between physisorbed and chemically grafted layers of hyaluronic acid (HA), an anionic polyelectrolyte in the presence of lubricin (Lub), a mucinous glycoprotein, on mica surfaces using a surface forces apparatus (SFA). This work demonstrates that high friction coefficients between the surfaces do not necessarily correlate with surface damage and that chemically grafted HA acts synergistically with Lub to provide friction reduction and enhanced wear protection to the surfaces. Surface immobilization of HA by grafting is necessary for such wear protection. Increasing the concentration of Lub enhances the threshold load that a chemically grafted HA surface can be subjected to before the onset of wear. Addition of Lub does not have any beneficial effect if HA is physisorbed to the mica surfaces. Damage occurs at loads less than 1 mN regardless of the amount of Lub, indicating that the molecules in the bulk play little or no role in protecting the surfaces from damage. Lub penetrates into the chemically bound HA to form a visco-elastic gel that reduces the coefficient of friction as well as boosts the strength of the surface against abrasive wear (damage).