A Study on Synthesis and Characteristics of The Optimum Rolling Bearing Greases

최적 베어링 윤활 그리이스의 합성과 특성연구

Rolling bearings are classified one of the most important machine elements. The various function of bearings are greatly influenced by grease, and higher performance of rolling bearing greases is required in improve bearing lubrication. Three urea/ether oil greases with identical composition were synthesized to compare the performance of these greases according to the thickener content of grease. The typical grease physical properties were investigated. And life test of these greases was conducted by FE-9 grease life tester. The characteristics of the greases before and after life test were investigated using FT-IR, microscope, OIT and TAN meter. Large differences in the grease performance depending on the content of the thickener were observed. The grease with higher content of the hickener showed higher performance such as long life time and low TAN value. After preliminary test, twelve greases were synthesized and evaluated the performance of dropping point and OIT, then optimized two greases were selected by SSRED (Six Sigma Robust Engineering Design) using dropping point and OIT data. Characteristics of the optimized two greases were on the same level with estimated value. The optimized grease by means of OIT value showed longer grease life in comparison with optimized grease by dropping point. However two greases showed higher performance than typical urea/ether oil.