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Grease lubrication of rolling element bearings — role of the grease thickener
Author(s) -
Cann P. M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
lubrication science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.632
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1557-6833
pISSN - 0954-0075
DOI - 10.1002/ls.39
Subject(s) - grease , lubricant , lubrication , base oil , materials science , composite material , bearing (navigation) , scanning electron microscope , computer science , artificial intelligence
The contribution of grease thickener to lubricant film formation was examined in this paper. Lubricant film thickness and friction were measured for different grease thickener types in a bearing simulation device. The results showed that the greases formed thick (20–80nm), low friction surface layers at low speeds, which were much greater than the corresponding base oil film. These films appeared to be formed by the physical deposition of thickener in the track during overrolling of the grease. This was confirmed by infrared reflection analysis, which showed the deposited films to have increased thickener content. The ability of grease to form renewable physically deposited solid films has significant implications for optimising lubricant formulation for certain applications, e.g. bearings operating at high temperatures and low speeds where a conventional elastohydrodynamic lubricating film would be inadequate. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.