Toward a novel lubrication approach tailored to E-mobility – ELUB-Mobility

In the pursuit of lower CO2 emissions, Electric Vehicles (EVs) represent a promising step toward completely decarbonizing the transportation sector. However, the shift to EVs brings new challenges in the field of lubrication and tribology, related mainly to the increasingly harsher and broader range of their operating conditions, in gearboxes e.g. This requires the development of novel lubrication solutions tailored toward the special driving regimes of EVs: low viscosity to decrease churning losses, improved boundary efficiency to combat wear and surface failure, improved heat transfer capability due to warmer motors, and dielectric properties to avoid arcing. To meet these requirements, a novel breakthrough solution is proposed within ELUB-Mobility project: the coupling of an optimized ultra-low viscosity lubricant doped with nanoparticles, with a functional cold spray coating, working harmoniously together to provide high resistance to wear and surface damage under severe lubrication regimes. The effect of blending the lubricant formulations with dielectric SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on their thermal and electric conductivity will be explored. The tribological properties of the couple metal-ceramic coating/nano-lubricants will be evaluated under a wide range of boundary lubrication regime. The lubrification mechanisms involving interactions between the coating ceramic reinforcement, its metallic matrix, the SiO2 NPs and the co-additives will be extensively investigated. Attention will be paid to the mechanical strength of the tribofilms generated at different lubrication conditions in order to assess their behavior under indentation and scratch compared with the virgin surface. The expected results will highlight the benefits of such tribological systems and suggest approaches for further optimizing their use for end-user application.