Probing tribological properties of DLC film deposited on plunger surface of sucker-rod pump based on molecular dynamics simulation

The plunger is the core component of the sucker rod pump. Its rapid wear and premature failure severely limit the efficiency and productivity of oil and gas production. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films, due to their high hardness, high wear resistance and low friction coefficient, have great research...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Materials science & processing, 2023-08, Vol.129 (8), Article 599
Main Authors: Liu, Yunhai, Zhang, Hu, Jiang, Yuhong, Wang, Xiaowen, Luo, Yiyao, Zhu, Xiaohua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesive wear
Applied physics
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Coefficient of friction
Condensed Matter Physics
Diamond-like carbon films
Friction
Machines
Manufacturing
Materials science
Mechanical properties
Molecular dynamics
Nanotechnology
Optical and Electronic Materials
Petroleum production
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Plungers
Processes
Service life
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
Tribology
Wear resistance
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Summary:The plunger is the core component of the sucker rod pump. Its rapid wear and premature failure severely limit the efficiency and productivity of oil and gas production. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films, due to their high hardness, high wear resistance and low friction coefficient, have great research prospects for the development of long-life and high-reliability sucker-rod pump plungers in oil production environments. Therefore, in this paper, to simulate the friction behaviour and influence mechanism of the DLC film in an oil production environment, three molecular dynamics friction models of Fe–Fe, DLC–Fe and DLD–DLC were established. It is found that with increasing load, the friction coefficients of DLC–Fe and DLD–DLC are smaller than that of Fe–Fe in the light oil reservoir environment. In particular, when the mating pair is DLC–DLC, a superlubricity state of 0.0007 is even achieved. This will greatly increase the service life of the plunger of the sucker rod pump in the oil production environment. Further investigation revealed that the low friction of the DLC film in an oil production environment is mainly due to the weak interaction between light oil molecules and the DLC layer, so that it does not cause adhesive wear with the friction surface while lubricating the surface.
ISSN:0947-8396
1432-0630
DOI:10.1007/s00339-023-06873-x