Effect of Surface-Active Media on Contact Elastoplastic Deformations of Surface Layers of Metals and Their Tribological Characteristics

A materials science analysis of the tribological efficiency of dispersed systems used in the production of plastic lubricants for friction units of machines and devices is performed, based on concepts of physicochemical mechanics. Changes in microstructural characteristics during the tribodeformation of BrA5 bronze under conditions of the Rehbinder effect are considered as an example. This determines the possibility of achieving the selective transfer mode during the operation of tribological interfaces. It is shown that when bronze is rubbed in surface-hardening or inert lubricating media, its rate of wear is I_h = 1.5 × 10⁻⁷−4.0 × 10⁻⁸. When bronze is rubbed in ambivalent media (e.g., certain polyesters), both forms of the effect are obtained: surface-plasticizing and surface-hardening, with the latter predominating. At the same time, the wear resistance of bronze is at least doubled. When bronze is rubbed in surface-plasticizing media, two crystallographically isostructural solid solutions form in the near-surface layer of bronze, one of which is enriched in copper. The rate of bronze wear is reduced to a value of I_h = 4.0 × 10⁻⁸. It is shown that using dispersed systems with surface-plasticizing dispersed phases in tribocouplings as lubricants creates a wear-resistant structure in the antifriction material and establishes a stable low-wear selective transfer mode during the tribocoupling process.