Optimization of the Tribological Performance and Service Life of Calcium Sulfonate Complex—Polyurea Grease Based on Unreplicated Saturated Factorial Design

Abstract

In order to further extend the service life of calcium sulfonate complex–polyurea grease (CSCPG) while ensuring its tribological performance, this article starts with the production of raw materials and the preparation process of the grease and explores the factors that significantly affect the tribological performance and service life of CSCPG based on unreplicated saturated factorial design (USFD). The Kriging prediction model is used along with the optimization objectives of friction coefficient and service life, and nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) was used for a multi-objective optimization solution. The tribological and service life tests were conducted before and after optimization. The results show that the viscosity of the base oil and the content of the nano-solid friction reducers have a significant impact on the tribological properties of CSCPG. The content of polyurea thickeners and antioxidants, as well as the thickening reaction temperature, have a significant impact on the service life of CSCPG. When the friction coefficient and service life are optimized as objectives and are compared to the initial group, the friction coefficient of CSCPG could be reduced by 5.3%, and the service life could be extended by 3.8%. The Kriging prediction model based on USFD has high accuracy and can be used to guide the preparation and performance optimization of CSCPG.