ES and H-compatible lubrication for duplex bearings

Two ES and H-compatible lubricants (environment, safety, and health) for duplex bearing applications and one hybrid material duplex bearing were evaluated and compared against duplex bearings with trichlorotrifluoroethane (Freon) deposition of low molecular weight polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bearing lubricant extracted from Vydax{trademark}. Vydax is a product manufactured by DuPont consisting of various molecular weights of PTFE suspended in trichlorotrifluoroethane (Freon), which is an ozone-depleting solvent. Vydax has been used as a bearing lubricant in strong link mechanisms since 1974. Hybrid duplex bearings with silicon nitride balls and molded glass-nylon-Teflon retainers, duplex bearings lubricated with sputtered MoS{sub 2} on races and retainers, and duplex bearings lubricated with electrophoretic deposited MoS{sub 2} were evaluated. Bearings with electrophoretic deposited MoS{sub 2} performed as well as bearings with Freon deposition of PTFE from Freon-based Vydax. Hybrid bearings with silicon nitride balls performed worse than bearings lubricated with Vydax, but their performance would still be acceptable for most applications. Bearings lubricated with sputtered MoS{sub 2} on the races and retainers had varying amounts of film on the bearings. This affected the performance of the bearings. Bearings with a uniform coating performed to acceptable levels, but bearings with no visible MoS{sub 2} on the races and retainers did not perform as well as bearings with the other coatings. Unless process controls are incorporated in the sputtering process or the bearings are screened, they do not appear to be acceptable for duplex bearing applications