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GreaseDryout

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WhyaGrease'sBaseOilViscosityisImportant

Causes,EffectsandRemedies
JimFitch,NoriaCorporation

WhatIsLubrication?
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Tags:greases

OILANALYSIS

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Oneofthemaindisadvantagesofusinggreaseoveroilistheannoyingtendencyofgreaseto
cakeanddryout.Weallknowthatoilhasanaturaltendencytodrainoutofthegrease
thickenerovertime.Weseeconspicuousevidenceofthiswhenoilpuddlesinunleveled
greasepocketsinpailsofnewgrease.Wevealsoseenthedribbleofoilfromstoredgrease
cartridgesandprepackedbearingsonstoreroomshelves.
Moreseriousisthehardenedbyproductofoildrainagethatbuildsinsidethecavitiesof
operatingbearingsandgearsovertime.Oftenthistakesyearstodevelop,whileinother
casestheconditioncanreachcatastrophiclevelsinjustafewweeks.Thefailurecanbeself
propagating.Asgreasebecomesdry,frictionalforcesescalate,causingconcentratedheat
withinthebearing.Theelevatedheatcontinuestoforcemorerapidandcompletedryingof
thegrease.Intime,thegreasecanreachastateofconsistencyrangingfromhardputtyto
sandstone,dependingonthethickenertypeanddegradationconditions.
Frequentlythemostseriousoffendingconditionsleadingtogreasedryoutareaidedbyother
causesworkinginconcert.Letsbeginbyreviewingtheprimarycausesofgreasedryout.
Oncethecausesaredetermined,wehavetheinformationnecessarytoprescribestepsto
correctormitigatetheproblem.

CausesofGreaseDryout
Contamination.Grosscontaminationbydust,dirt,flyashandsimilardrypower
contaminantscanthickenthegreasejustliketheintroductionofagellingagent.
IncompatibleGrease.Accidentalmixingofgreasecanleadtoaccelerateddegellingand
oilseparation.Therearemanyclassicalexamplesofthis,includingtheclashingoforganic
claygreasewithsoapthickenedgrease.
HightemperatureVolatility.Greasemadefromlowviscositybaseoilsisatthehighest
riskofvolatilization.Atsufficientlyhightemperatures,oilcanboiloutofthethickener
matrix,causinghardeningofthegreaseovertime(loweroiltothickenerratioandhigher
baseoilviscosity).

UnderstandingtheDifferencesBetween
AutomotiveandIndustrialGreases
HowtoSelecttheRightGreaseforHighspeed
Applications

WhitePapers
TheHiddenCostsofAirCompressorOperation
CompressedAirLeakDetectionADual
ChallengeforEnergy,andtheEnvironment
ThePowerofLubricantSelection
PrecisionMeetsConnectivity

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Figure1.Thisgreaseimageshowsextremethickeningthatresultedfromcopper
prematurelyoxidizingthebaseoilinthegrease.Thehighconcentrationofcupriccatalytic
metalsinthegreasewasfromweardebris.
BaseoilOxidation.Oxidizedoilcantakeonthephysicalcharacteristicsofroofingtaror
evencoal.Thesametransformationcanoccurwithgrease.ThegreaseimageinFigure1
occurredatroomtemperatureduetothehighconcentrationofcupriccatalyticmetalsinthe
greasefromweardebris.Thecopperprematurelyoxidizedthebaseoilinthegrease,
causingextremethickening.
ThermalRunaway.Toomuchgreaseinabearing,mechanicalconditions(misalignment,
excesspreload,etc.),andstarvationcanleadtohighrunningtemperatures.Thisismost
commonlyassociatedwithovergreasing,causinghighheatfromchurning.Insuchcases,
thedroppingpointisreached,thebearingbeginstobleed,thegreaserunsdryand
eventuallyfailureoccurs.Figure2showsanexampleofsuchabearing.

Figure2.Thisbearingdisplaystheresultsofhighrunningtemperaturescommonly
associatedwithovergreasing.Whenthedroppingpointisreached,thebearingbeginsto
bleed,thegreaserunsdryandeventuallyfailureoccurs.
MechanicalWringout.Sometypesofrollingelementbearingsaremorepronetooil
separation.Sphericalrollerbearingswouldbesuchanexample.Whengreaseisoverrolled
bythebearingorgears,theoilcanberapidlyseparatedfromthethickener.Thisisreferred
toasmechanicalwringout.Theoilissqueezedlikeawetsponge.Somethickenershave
goodreversibility,whileothersdonot.Agreaseisreversiblewhenoilwillquicklyreabsorb
intothethickeneraftertheloadisrelaxed.Aluminumcomplexisasoapbasedgreasewith
goodreversibility.
HydrostaticExtrusion.Greaseunderconstantpressurecanseparatebyhydrostaticforces.
Itslikewaterflowingthroughasandfilter.Thesandstaysput,butthewaterflowsfreely
underpressurethroughthegrainsofsand(sieving).Somegreaseproductsareformulated
specificallytoresistextrusionbyusingspecialthickeners,polarbaseoils,VIimprovers,
tackifiersandhigherthickenerconcentrations.Somesinglepointautolubers(springtype)
exposegreasetoconstantpressure,whichcausesbleedandseparationfromthethickener.
Theoilisliterallybeingsqueezedoutofthethickener.

VibrationandCentrifugalForces.Greaseexposedtoprolongedvibrationand/orcentrifugal
forcesisalsoknowntoseparateprematurely.Highspeedmechanicalcouplingscanspin
somegreaseproductsdryinashortperiodoftimeifthewronggreaseisused.Amongother
things,significantdifferencesinthespecificgravitybetweenthebaseoilandthickenercan
sharplyincreasecentrifugalseparation.

CakelockFailures
Acakelockfailureislikeamicroscopiclogjam.Asthethickenerdriesout,itbecomes
immobileandjamstheflowpathandevenmechanicalmotion.Oilmayflowthroughthe
thickener(hydrostaticextrusion),butthethickenergoesnowhere.Asmoregreaseenters
andoilexits,themorethelogjambuilds.Eventually,arigidbindingconditiondevelopsfrom
thestiffhighdensitycake.
Thecakelockconditionleadstothepreviouslymentionedthermalexcursionandbearing
failure.Bearingslubricatedwithcentralizedorsinglepointautolubersareperhapsmostat
riskforcakelock.Whensoftgreaseisbeingfedintothebearingbutonlyoilemergesfrom
theexhaustport,thereisacakelockfailureinprogress.Thethickenerisbeinglogjammed
inthebearingcavity.Incentralizedlubesystems,cakeblockagecanoccurinthelines
betweenthepumpandthedosageinjectorsaswell.
Topreventcakelock,selectasuitablelowriskgreaseformulationandensurethegrease
flowissufficientlyhightoavoidstaticconditionsthatgiverisetoseparationandblockage.
Somelongfibergreasethickeners(e.g.,simplesodiumsoap)areparticularlyproneto
greaseflowstabilityproblems.Standardizedtestsformobilityandpumpabilityaregoodfor
screeninggreasewithhighcakelockrisks.Frequentmovementofgreasealsocankeepthe
flowpathfreshandinhibitblockage.However,theremaystillbesomeunavoidablezonesof
drygreasethatbuildupinadjacentsidecavities.

ConditionMonitoringisKeytoEarlyDetection
Asmentionedearlier,vigilantlymonitorthequalityoflubricantthatemergesfrombearings
intotallossapplications(oncethrough).Samplinggreasefromacatchpanforconsistency,
oilcontentanalysis,oxidationandcontaminationcanbehelpful.Usealabwithexperiencein
analyzingusedgreasesamples,asthetechniquesvarysharplyfromstandardASTMgrease
performancetestingmethods.Toolsarenowavailabletoextractgreasesamplesdirectly
fromrunningbearingcavities,too.
Finally,alwaysgetfeedbackfromrebuildshopsonwhattheyareseeinginsidefailed
bearings.Anyappearanceofgreasethatisquestionable(hardness,color,contamination,
oxidation,etc.)shouldbesampledforanalysis.Allowfailuretobeateacherforcontinuous
improvement.
MachineryLubrication(8/2011)

AbouttheAuthor
JimFitch
JimFitch,afounderandCEOofNoriaCorporation,hasawealthofexperiencein
lubrication,oilanalysis,andmachineryfailureinvestigations.Hehasadvised
hundredsofcompaniesondeveloping...ReadMore

RelatedArticles
WhyaGrease'sBaseOilViscosityisImportant
WhatIsLubrication?
UnderstandingtheDifferencesBetweenAutomotiveandIndustrialGreases
HowtoSelecttheRightGreaseforHighspeedApplications

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