Tribological behaviour of refined bleached and deodorized palm olein in different loads using a four-ball tribotester

Vegetable oil is one of the bio-oils that have been promoted to replace petroleum-based products due to its eco- friendly characteristics. Palm oil has high productivity rate, and so it could fulfil the demand for a bio-lubricant. In this paper, the influence of the normal load on friction and wear performance were investigated for a RBD palm olein and compared with paraffinic mineral oil using four-ball tribotester. The normal load was varied from 30 kg to 60 kg. All experimental works were conforming to ASTM D 4172. The results exhibited that the RBD palm olein has lower coefficient of friction compared to paraffinic mineral oil. However, the wear scar of ball bearings lubricated with RBD palm olein showed larger diameter compared to paraffinic mineral oil. As a conclusion, RBD palm olein has better performance compared to paraffinic mineral oil in terms of capability to reduce friction.