Study of the Anti-Wear Properties of Coconut Oil Using Quantum Chemical Calculations and Tribological Tests

In this paper Spartan 02, a molecular dynamics software, is used to analyze and predict the tribological properties of coconut oil in a qualitative manner on the basis of carbon chain length of the constituent fatty acids, their polarity (net electrostatic charge, $Qr$⁠), the energies of the molecular orbitals $E_HOMO$ (energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital), and $E_LUMO$ (energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital), and the heats of formations (H-Form) of the iron soaps of respective fatty acids. Tribological properties of the constituent fatty acids of coconut oil were evaluated using a four-ball tester as per ASTM D4172 method. The experimental results showed good correlation to the selected quantum chemical descriptors. The influence of an anti-wear additive on the tribological performance of coconut oil and the optimum additive concentration were also evaluated experimentally.