Grease lubrication - Wear behavior of gears lubricated with NLGI 00 greases at low speeds

Greases are often used to lubricate gears running at low circumferential speeds in open gear drives. At low circumferential speeds wear is often the limiting factor to gear lifetime. A thorough knowledge of the effect of different grease parameters on wear behavior is therefore a prerequisite to the selection of a grease to effectively reduce gear wear. The influence of different grease parameters on the wear of case carburized gears was therefore investigated in a modified wear test based on the standard DGMK low speed wear test for gear oils at a circumferential speed of v_t = 0.05 mis. NLGI 00 greases with base oil viscosities from 70 - 1200 mm²/s were tested. Base oil type and base oil viscosity seem to have only a minor effect on the wear behavior under boundary lubrication conditions. On the other hand, the additive type plays an important role in the wear behavior. :.