Nano graphite flakes as lubricant additive

The fundamental method of reducing friction and wear in metal to metal contact manufacturing processes like forging, extrusion, sheet metal forming etc. is based upon surface separation. The separation is usually obtained by adding different types of lubricants to the process. In this work, graphite nano platelets (GNp) powder has been used as a lubrication additive to explore and evaluate the influence on the frictional outcome. The xperiments have been performed utilizing laboratory test equipment based on strip drawing. Three different lubricant systems are tested ‘oil’, ‘oil-GNp’ and GNp only. The result clearly shows that the specific type of nano-graphite used has a favorable effect of reducing the frictional forces both in mixture with a base oil and as a standalone coating.