Choosing the Proper Bearing Grease

The cost of a bearing failure may be significantly higher than the price of a new bearing alone. Machine downtime can result in production losses and expensive maintenance. Insufficient or inappropriate lubrication, which can result in contamination or an excessive accumulation of heat, is a major factor in bearing failure. Any manufacturing unit would definitely try to avoid the downtime so that the huge blow on the business can be avoided. Investing in a quality grease that is proper for the machinery can help with this nightmare. Reputed companies like skf Thailand offers different types of lubricants to select from. 

Due to a sliding motion between the rolling element and the bearing ring, bearing balls and rollers produce friction when in use. In contrast to the sliding contact area, the contact area of pure rolling motion is actually quite small. Application of lubricant between these surfaces increases bearing life and reduces heat generated by the sliding friction. Due to severe pressures, excessive heat might lead to surface degradation or cage breakage.

Choosing grease for lubrication

Any bearing that lacks built-in lip seals will need to be lubricated from the outside. Maintaining a bearing’s anti-friction properties and lowering the heat produced by excessive sliding friction between the balls or rollers, bearing cage, and bearing rings also depend on lubrication.

The choice between grease and oil must be made by design engineers when determining the appropriate lubrication for a particular application. The choice of lubricant depends on the various bearing types and uses.

Beyond lowering heat generated by friction, which is a common advantage of both oil and grease, lubrication has other uses. Between the rings and the rolling element, a good lubricant will also provide a load-bearing film, reducing wear. The majority of manufacturers will list the maximum speeds for both grease and oil in their specification tables.

Grease

Grease is a lubricant and thickening agent mixture that can range in consistency from semi-fluid to solid. Mineral oil, ester, organic ester, glycol, or silicone can all be used as lubricants. A soap (lithium, sodium, barium, calcium, or strontium), an inorganic non-soap (microgel, carbon black, or silica gel), or an organic soap may be used as a thickening agent (urea compound, terephthalate or organic dye).

Petroleum oil with a soap thickening agent make up the majority of bearing greases. Due to their ability to function well in both high and low temperatures and their water resistance, lithium-based greases are particularly common as bearing grease. Greases made of synthetic lubricants function well at both very high and very low temperatures.

Grease can be solid or semi-solid, like a thick oil, or it can be close to the hardness of a soft wood. As the bearing turns and the grease shears, the consistency of the grease may alter. The temperature rises as a result, and the grease softens. A penetrometer is used to gauge grease consistency. A penetrometer measures the depth of penetration after dropping a weighted cone on to a grease sample.