Lubrication & Lubricants

Lubrication is basically a viscosity pump. If there is no pressure build-up, the lubricant will be squeezed out very rapidly. In a roller bearing the viscosity pump creates a very high pressure: Up to several GPa (1 GPa is equivalent to 10000 atm.) This pressure is so high that the metal surfaces are deformed elastically. Therefore it is called elasto-hydrodyamic lubrication. At the same time the film thickness is very small, down to below one micron. The presentation will review various cases on lubrication and explain the calculations behind.

The lubrication oil film separating heavy loaded machine components is incredibly thin – often 1-3 micron, meaning below 3/1000 of a millimeter. Maintaining this oil film intact means life or death for the components, so machine reliability, efficiency and uptime depends heavily on this thin oil film. The presentation will focus on:

• How lubrication and machine reliability are linked
• Lubrication film thickness
• Best practice in oil maintenance
• Cases showing savings achieved by proper oil maintenance

Fundamentals of Synthetic Lubricants will focus on synthetic grease technology and lubricant selection.  Since the base oil is vital to the performance of greases, the major chemical families will be reviewed for their fundamental properties.  There is a description of the fundamental lubrication related testing to make it easier to understand the data typically presented in technical bulletins.  Other factors that influence grease performance will be reviewed and finally, we will review case studies to see how the proper lubrication solutions are selected.

An introduction to dry friction and its application for brakes will be followed by some information about production of the brake pads. A friction formulation can consist of up to 25 ingredients which interact in many ways and at varying conditions of speed, pressure, and temperature.  The technical focus will include a review of the lubricants used and their roles within the formulations, thus providing the background for the use of the name “friction stabilizers”.

PVD coatings from the self-lubricating DLC-family are becoming increasingly used for dry lubricating purposes, as well as a supplement for traditional liquid lubrication with oil and grease. Even water may often become a satisfying lubricant, if the “bearing” surfaces are manufactured with the right choice of material and combined with a suitable kind of DLC coating. A good example is the food and pharmaceutical industry, where some bearings and other moving parts are often “lubricated” by the product, followed by very intense cleaning procedures that remove the lubricating substances. In these cases, a DLC coating of one or both mating surfaces may often be a solution to avoid severe damage of the parts.

Condition monitoring of lubricants is essential in order for production to run smoothly. However, it relies on correct interpretation of the results and proactive action. In this presentation the common tests used for testing of lubricants will be presented, with a focus on water-based metalworking fluids. This will be supported with real-life troubleshooting cases to show how test results can help decision-making to stop potentially expensive or even dangerous changes from being made.

Lubricants don’t mean much to most people, yet the world as we know it wouldn’t work without them. The vast majority of lubes is produced from crude oil as a by-product from fuel production. In contrast to fuels, lubricants can be re-refined and used again and again. This is what they do at Avista Oil. They collect used lubrication oil, re-refine it and sell it back into the market where lubricant blenders substitute virgin oils with re-refined base stocks. This cuts their carbon footprint significantly. This presentation will give insight into Avista oil’s niche industry and give ideas as to what you can do to support their efforts in the circular economy.