Tribological performances of α-Zrp as the additive of the grease used for mine hoisting wire rope

Considering that the lubrication failure of the wire rope in mine hoisting is easy to occur under harsh conditions, which will accelerate the wear of the wire rope and seriously threaten the safety of hoisting. Therefore, the anti-wear characteristics of α-type zirconium hydrogen phosphate (α-ZrP) on the wire rope grease used for mine hoisting were studied. First, the modified greases with different mass fractions of α-ZrP were prepared, and then the dispersion of α-ZrP in the original grease was discussed. Finally, the friction and wear properties of the α-ZrP modified greases were investigated by the four-ball machine, fretting wear test rig of steel wire and sliding wear test rig of wire rope. The results show that the coefficient of friction (CoF) increases first and then decreases with the increase of α-ZrP added in the grease in the four-ball friction test and the sliding wear test of wire rope. In addition, it will agglomerate in the original grease when the addition of α-ZrP is too large, which will worsen the lubrication effect, and the wear mechanism also changes from abrasive wear to abrasive wear and adhesive wear. Moreover, dry friction may occur between steel wires when the additive content is low, thus accelerating their wear. The improvement effect of the original grease is the most significant for the mine hoisting wire rope when the mass fraction of α-ZrP is 2.5% according to the principal component analysis theory.