The effectiveness of antiwear additives in laboratory tests is commonly evaluated using specimens made of AISI 52100 through-hardened bearing steel. However, many lubricated machine components are made of steels with significantly different material compositions, which raises an important practical question of whether the performance of antiwear additives with these other steel types is different from that established with AISI 52100. To help answer this question, this paper investigates the influence of steel composition on the formation and effectiveness of antiwear films. Four steels that are commonly used in tribological applications, namely AISI 52100 through-hardened bearing steel, 16MnCr5 case-carburised gear steel, M2 high speed steel and 440C stainless steel are tested in rolling-sliding, ball-on-disc contacts lubricated with three custom-made oils, one containing ZDDP and two containing different types of ashless antiwear additives. The relative effectiveness of their boundary films was assessed by measuring their thickness and associated wear and friction over 12 h of rubbing at two specimen roughness levels. For ZDDP it was found that the formation of antiwear film was not significantly influenced by steel composition or specimen surface roughness. A similar tribofilm thickness, final tribofilm roughness and friction was observed with all four steels. No measurable wear was observed. By contrast, for the ashless antiwear additives the thickness and effectiveness of their tribofilms was strongly influenced by steel composition, particularly at higher roughness levels. The exact trends in film thickness vs steel relationship depended on the specific chemistry of the ashless additive (ester-based or acid-based) but in general, relative to AISI 52100 steel, M2 steel promoted ashless tribofilm formation whilst 440C retarded ashless tribofilm formation. This behaviour is attributed to the presence of different alloying elements and the ability of the additives to extract metal cations from the rubbing surfaces to support the growth of a tribofilm. In all cases ZDDP films were thicker and rougher, and produced higher friction than those formed by the ashless additives. However, unlike ZDDP, ashless blends generally produced significant wear, particularly with 16MnCr5 and M2 steels. The results indicate that to ensure reliable performance of a given machine component, the chemistry of an ashless antiwear additive should be matched with the types of steel present in the lubricated machine.

抗磨添加剂在实验室测试中的有效性通常使用AISI 52100全硬化轴承钢制成的样品进行评估。但是，许多润滑的机械部件是由材料组成明显不同的钢制成的，这提出了一个重要的实际问题，即其他类型的抗磨添加剂的性能是否与AISI 52100所确立的性能有所不同。论文研究了钢成分对抗磨膜形成和有效性的影响。在滚动摩擦中测试了摩擦学中常用的四种钢，即AISI 52100淬火轴承钢，16MnCr5渗碳齿轮钢，M2高速钢和440C不锈钢，圆盘触点采用三种定制油润滑，一种含ZDDP，两种含不同类型的无灰抗磨添加剂。通过在两个样品粗糙度水平下摩擦12小时后测量其厚度以及相关的磨损和摩擦，可以评估其边界膜的相对有效性。对于ZDDP，发现抗磨膜的形成不受钢成分或样品表面粗糙度的影响。对于所有四种钢，观察到相似的摩擦膜厚度，最终的摩擦膜粗糙度和摩擦。没有观察到可测量的磨损。相反，对于无灰抗磨添加剂，其摩擦膜的厚度和有效性受钢成分的强烈影响，特别是在较高粗糙度下。膜厚与钢之间关系的确切趋势取决于无灰添加剂（酯基或酸基）的具体化学性质，但总的来说，相对于AISI 52100钢，M2钢促进了无灰摩擦膜的形成，而440C则阻碍了无灰摩擦膜的形成。该行为归因于不同合金元素的存在以及添加剂从摩擦表面提取金属阳离子以支持摩擦膜生长的能力。在所有情况下，ZDDP膜都比无灰添加剂形成的膜厚，更粗糙，并产生更高的摩擦力。但是，与ZDDP不同，无灰共混物通常会产生明显的磨损，特别是16MnCr5和M2钢。结果表明，要确保给定机器组件的性能可靠，