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Lubrication

12. Lubrication is also widely used, because they have merits in

that bearings have the available inside spaces for
grease and that it is comparatively quite simple to
Lubrication can be defined as the application of
use them.
some materials between two objects moving
relative to each other to allow smooth operation as Table 12-1 Comparisons between Grease and Oil
much as necessary. Lubrications
Either oil or grease is used for rolling bearings to
Kinds Grease Lubrication Oil Lubrication
prevent noise, wear and tear, and heat from being
generated from their rolling and sliding movements, Lubrication Effect Good Excellent
and in some special cases, solid lubricants are Cooling Effect None Good when
occasionally used. circulation
lubrication is
The amounts and kinds of lubricants for rolling adopted
bearings are determined depending on operation
Permissible Load Average load High load
speed, temperature, and surrounding condition, etc.
And because the lubricants spent their service-life Speed Allowable velocity is High allowable speed
60 80% of oil lubrication.
or polluted with foreign materials can not serve their
function well, they have to be periodically replaced Sealing and Housing Simple Complex
Structure
or oiled.
Dust Protection Easy Difficult
12-1 Purpose of Lubrication Leaking of Lubricant Small Large
Main purposes of lubrication are as follows; Repairing Easy Difficult
- To prevent wear and premature fatigue by for- Lubricant Replacing Difficult Convenient
ming the lubrication film on the surface of load tr-
Torque Comparatively large Small
ansferring parts to prevent contacts between
metals. Removing of Foreign Impossible Easy
Materials
- To enhance the favorable driving characteristics,
such as low noise or friction. Periodic Inspection Long Short
-To prevent overheating of bearings and to pre-
vent lubricant s own deterioration by radiating
the generated heat to outside. It works par- 12-3 Grease Lubrication
ticularly well if the circulation lubrication method 12-3-1 Lubricating Grease
is adopted. Grease can be defined as the lubricant of solid or
- To prevent foreign material penetration, rust, semi-solid state that contains the thickener, and
and corrosion. some greases contain various special ingredients.
Because various kinds of greases have their own
12-2 Lubrication Methods distinct characteristics, and sometimes even the
For bearing lubrications, either grease or oil is same kind of greases produce quite different
used. It is important to choose the appropriate performance results, one has to be careful when
lubrication method that suits bearing s operating selecting the greases.
conditions and purpose, for the bearing to perform
well.
Oil lubrication is generally better than grease
lubrication in many respects, but grease lubrication

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Table 12-2 Types and Performances of Greases

Name Lithium Sodium Calcium Mixed Compound Non-soap Type

Grease Grease Grease Grease Grease Grease

Thickener Li Soap Na Soap Ca Soap Na+Ca Ca Compound Urea, Carbon, Black Fluorine Heat-Resistant
Soap Soap Organic compound.
Li+Ca Al Compound
Soap Soap

base oil mineral oil diester Oil Silicon Oil mineral Oil mineral Oil mineral Oil mineral Oil mineral Oil Compound grease
polyol-ester (Ester Oil, Polyol-
Oil ester Oil, Silicon Oil,
Combined
carbohydrate Oil,
Fluorine Oil

Dropping Point(°C) 170...195 170...195 200...210 170...210 70...90 160...190 180...300 230... 230...

Operating Temperature -20...110 -50...130 -50...160 -20...130 -20...60 -20...80 -20...130 -10...130 ...220
(°C)

Permissible Speed Ratio 70 100 60 70 40 70 70 70 40...100

(%)

Pressure Resistance ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ × ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

Mechanical △ △ × ○ × ○ ○ ○ △
Stability

Water ◎ ◎ ◎ × ◎ one that ◎ ◎ ◎

Resistance contains Na
is bad

Rust Prevention ◎ ◎ × △ ◎ ○ ○ △ △

Remarks General Excellent low For high Caution when in Excellent Used mainly Excellent General for special purposse
Purpose temperature temperature contact with Pressure for large in pressure purpose such as
and friction Advantageous water resistance bearings resistance heat-resistance
characterstics in high speed or under high when it and and acid resistance
Suitable and high load temperature contains EP mechanical
resistance stability

Remarks ◎ Excellent ○ Good △ Average × Poor

(1) Base Oil used. Generally, the mineral oils with higher
Base oil in the grease is the main ingredient viscosity are used for the locations requiring the
which actually provides lubricating function, and it lubrications of high load, low speed, and high
forms 80 90% of grease. So, it is important to temperature, and the ones with lower viscosity for
select the right kind of base oil and its viscosity. the locations requiring the lubrications of low load,
There are two main types of base oil, mineral low speed, and low temperatures.
base oils and compound base oils. Compound base oils are generally very
Mineral oils from low to high viscosity are widely expensive and used for the locations requiring the

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Lubrication

lubrications of extremely high or low temperatures, customers demands for different functions. These
or wide temperature ranges, and fast speed and additives enhance the physical or chemical
high precision. Compound base oils of mainly properties of grease, and/or minimize the wear,
esther, poly- -olefine, or silicon series are generally corrosion, or rust to the lubricated metals.
used, but the use of fluorine compound oils are There are various kinds of additives used for
increasing nowadays. prevention of oxidization, wear and tear, or rust.
There are also the EP additives. The appropriate
(2) Thickener grease containing right kind of additives to the
Thickener is one of the most important elements applied location has to be used.
in deciding the properties of the grease, and the
thickness of grease depends on how much (4) Worked Penetration
thickener is mixed in the grease. Worked penetration is used to represent the
There are mainly three kinds of thickeners, hardness of grease, and it is shown as the
namely, metal soap, non-organic non-soap, and penetrated depth(1/10mm) to grease by the
organic non-soap, but the metal soap thickeners pendulum of specified weight, and the greater the
are mostly used, and the non-organic non-soap th- value is, the softer the grease is.
ickeners are generally used only for the special
cases, such as operationin in high temperature. 12-3-2 Polymer Grease
Generally speaking, the grease with high
Polymer grease of hardened lubricant mixed with
dropping point can be used in high temperatures,
polyamid is generally used, and it allows to supply
and the water-resistance of grease depends on that
the grease for a long period.
of thickener. Also for the bearings that come in
It is widely used for the bearings to which the
contact with water or are operated under the high
strong centrifugal force is applied, such as the ones
humidity level, the Na soap grease or the grease
in wire stranding machines or compressors, or to
that contains Na soap can not be used, because
which leaking and pollution to the environment or
they deteriorate quickly when in contact with the
insufficient lubrication is easy to happen.
water or moisture.

(3) Additives 12-3-3 Injection of Grease

Various kinds of additives are used to enhance (1) Injection Amount of Grease
the grease performance and to meet the The grease usually occupies 30% of bearing
space, initially, and it is distributed evenly during the
Table 12-3 shows the greases of different worked penetrations and their usage.

NLGI Worked KS Worked State Usage

Penetration No. Penetrations of
Mixtures

0 355...385 Semi-gel or soft Centralized lubrication system

1 310...340 Soft Centralized lubrication system
2 265...295 Ordinary For general use, sealed ball bearings
3 220...250 Ordinary or rather hard For general use, high temperature use
4 175...205 Rather hard For special purposes

* NLGI : National Lubricating Grease Institute

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mmended as the minimum value for the life span of

the standard grease. Refilling inte-rval is set
considerably shorter than the lubrication interval, so
as to provide stability. Reliability can be increased
sufficiently even for the greases barely meeting the
minimum requirements, if lubricated in accordance
with the lubrication interval curves in the Fig. 12-2.
The lubrication intervals are determined by the
values of kf n dm, which can be obtained from
Fig. 12-1 Bearings Filled with Polymer Grease the speed formula related to bearings, and the
different values of kf have been assigned to various
initial few hours of operation. And then, it is kinds of bearings.
operated with just 30 50% of initial friction of the The bearings with larger load capacities have
bearing. larger kf values, and vice versa. The graph in the
The bearings purchased without grease inside, Fig. 12-2 shows the lubrication intervals under the
have to be filled with grease by the users conditions of below 70℃ measured at the outer ring
themselves, and following cautions have to be and P/C<1 for average load.
taken while filling. If either load and/or temperature rise, then the
lubrication intervals should be shortened.
(a) The space inside the bearing has to be filled Furthermore, if the operating and surrounding con-
completely, but, in case of high speed rota- ditions are not favorable, then they should be even
tion(n dm>500,000 min-1 mm), only 20 25% shorter. Also, If the life span of grease is consid-
of free space has to be filled. erably shorter than that of bearing, then it has to be
(b) It is recommended to fill only up to 60% of recharged again with grease or the grease has to
housing space adjacent to the bearing, so as be totally exchanged. If it is just recharged again
to leave sufficient room for the dispelled with grease, then only a part of whole grease gets
grease from the bearing. to be replaced, therefore, the recharging intervals
should be shorter than the lubrication interv-
(c) In case of low speed rotation(n dm>50,000
als(Generally, between 0.5·tf and 0.7·tf ).
min -1 mm), whole space of bearing and
When recharging with grease, different kinds of
housing can be filled with grease.
greases could be mixed together. It is compara-
(d) For the bearings rotating at a very high speed,
tively safe to mix different kinds of greases as follo-
it is necessary to test-run the bearings in
ws.
advance, so as to distribute the grease evenly.
- Greases containing the same thickener
(2) Life Span of Grease
- Lithium grease/calcium grease
The life span of grease is a period from the start - Calcium grease/bentonite grease
of bearing operation to bearing failure due to its
insufficient lubricating action.
The life span of a grease with 10% of bearing
failure possibility is denoted by F10. The F10 Life
Span Curves can be obtained by laboratory exp-
eriments set up close to the real operation situa-
tions. In most cases, because users do not know
the values of F10, the lubrication interval, tf, is reco-

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Lubrication

↑
tf [h]
Lubrication
Intervals

kf·n·dm [103min-1·mm] →

Kinds of Bearings kf Kinds of Bearings kf

Deep Groove Ball Bearing Single row 0.9 . . . 1.1 Cylindrical Roller Bearing Single row 3 . . . 3.5*)
Double row 1.5 Double row 3.5
Angular Contact Ball Bearing Single row 1.6 Full complement 25
Double row 2 Thrust Cylindrical Roller Bearing 90
Spindle Bearing α = 15。 0.75 Needle Roller Bearing 3.5
α = 25。 0.9 Tapered Roller Bearing 4
4-Point Contact Bearing 1.6 Barrel Roller Bearing 10
Self-Aligning Ball Bearing 1.3 . . . 1.6 Lipless Spherical Roller Bearing (E) 7...9
Thrust Ball Bearing 5...6 Spherical Roller Bearing with Center Lip 9 . . . 12
Thrust Angular Contact Ball Bearing Double row 1.4

Note : 1) Bearing applied with radial load and constant axial load ; When axial loads fluctuate, Kf = 2.
Remarks 1) Lubrication intervals under fairly good conditions.
2) Grease life span applied to Lithium soap of 10% break possibility under 70℃.

Fig. 12-2 Lubrication Intervals

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12-3-4 Properties of Greases

Table 12-4 Grease Property and Application Table-Grease.

Grease Color Thickener Base Oil Viscosity Worked Operating Limit Main Properties Main Applications
(40°C) Penetration Temperature Rotating Ratio
mm2/s NLGI °C (%)

G6 Light Lithium soap ISO VG 90 2 -15...+90 60 Medium speed General industrial

Brown Heavy load Machinery

G9 Brown Lithium soap ISO VG 20 2 -55...+130 100 Ultra high speed Machining tools
spinning machine,
spindle bearing, small
precision bearing

G12 White Lithium soap ISO VG 38 2/3 -30...+200 60 Medium speed OA equipment,
electric motor and high
temperature use
high temperature
equipment bearing

G14 Green Polyurea ISO VG 110 2 -30...+175 100 Ultra high speed Coupling, electric
equipment(elecric
motor, generator)

G15 Pale Lithium soap ISO VG 28 3 -40...+150 100 High speed Electric motor precision
tools and machinery
automotive elecrical
equipment

G26 Beige Polyurea ISO VG 31 2 -40...+160 100 High speed Automotive generator,
High temperature electronic clutch,
Long life electric motor

G33 White Fluorine ISO VG 400 2 -35...+300 60 Low speed Chemical equipment,
Ultra high temp vacuum and semi-conductor
Special purpose equipment, kiln truck

G35 Light Polyurea ISO VG 43 2 -50...+170 100 Hign speed Automotive generator
green Wide range temp automtive electric
Chemical resistance equipment, household
Radioactive resistance appliances

G42 Beige Polyurea ISO VG 95 2 -40...+170 100 High speed Automtive generator
Wide range temp household appliances

G100 Light Lithium soap ISO VG 100 2 -30...+130 70 Standard grease Electrical motor,
green General bearings agricultural equipment
construction
equipment

G101 Pale Lithium soap ISO VG 33 3 -40...+150 100 High speed Electrical motor
Yellow Wide range temp Household appliances

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Lubrication

12-4 Oil Lubrication

Table 12-5 Bearing types and minmum dynamic
12-4-1 Lubricants viscosity required for lubricants
Lubricants can be largely divided into two groups, Bearing Type Dyminic viscosity
namely mineral oil base lubricants and synthetic during operation(cSt)
lubricants. Ball Bearing, Cylindrical over 13
When selecting a lubricant, its viscosity is one of roller bearing, Needle roller bearing
the most important factors to be considered. If its Tapered roller bearing, Cylindrical roller bearing over 20
viscosity is too low at its operating temperature, oil Thrust needle roller bearing
film can t be sufficiently formed, causing abrasion Thrust spherical roller bearing over 32
and/or burning-and-sticking. And, if it s too high, its
viscosity resistance becomes higher, causing
reduced by half whenever the temperature of
temperature/friction rise and subsequent abnormal
power loss. lubricant increases by 10 .
Typical lubricants to be selected depending on
In general, lubricants with low viscosity are used
when it runs at high speed and low load, and ones bearing s operating condition are shown on Table
with high viscosity when at low speed and high 12-6.
load.
The minimum viscosity at its operating temp-
erature during normal operation is shown at the
Table 12-5 shown below, and it should not go
under these minimum values.
Lubricants should be selected in accordance with
viscosity specified by ISO, and its viscosity index
can be used conveniently for references. Although
it depends on viscosity indices, its viscosity gets

Table 12-6 Selection of Lubricants

Operating temperature °C Revolving Speed ISO Viscosity Class (VG) of Lubricant

Light Load or Nomal Load High Load Impact Load

-30...0 Up to allowable speed 15, 22, 32 46

0...50 up to one half of allowable speed 32, 46, 68 68, 100

Up to allowable speed 15, 22, 32 32, 46
Same or above allowable speed 10, 15, 22 -

50...80 up to one half of allowable speed 100, 150, 200 220, 320
Up to allowable speed 46, 68, 100 100, 150
Same or above allowable speed 32, 46, 68 -

80...100 up to one half of allowable speed 320, 460 460, 680

Up to allowable speed 150, 220 220, 320
Same or above allowable speed 68 -

Remarks: 1) In case of oil sump or circulation lubrication

2) Contact KBC if operating conditions are beyond the values of this Table.

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12-4-2 Oil Lubrication Methods

(1) Oil Sump Lubrication (3) Throwaway Lubrication
It is the most generally used lubrication method, This is a method that utilizes gear or circulation
especially for low or medium speed operations. ring to supply oil to bearings. It is widely used for
Oil surface should be, in principle, placed at the automotive transmissions or gears(Fig. 12-5).
center of lowest rolling element, and it is better to
be able to confirm the location of oil surface by
using the oil gauge(Fig. 12-3).

Fig. 12-5 Throwaway Lubrication

Fig. 12-3 Oil Sump Lubrication

(4) Circulation Lubrication
(2) Drip Feed Lubrication It is widely used when it is necessary to cool the
This method is widely used for small bearings that bearing parts that revolve at a high speed, or that
operate at a relatively high speed, and oil supply is with high surrounding temperature. Oil is fed throu-
controlled by adjusting the volume of oil drip(Fig. gh feed pipe and recovered through recovery pipe,
12-4). which is cooled down and re-fed again.
The diameter of recovery pipe should be bigger
than that of feed pipe, so as to prevent back pres-
sure from occurring to the oil inside a bearing(Fig.
12-6).

Fig. 12-4 Drip Feed Lubrication Fig. 12-6 Circulation Lubrication

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Lubrication

(5) Jet Lubrication

Jet lubrication is widely used for high speed
revolution bearings(for n dm 1,000,000), and oil
is jet-sprayed through one or several nozzles under
constant pressure into the inside of a bearing.
In general, jet stream speed should be faster than
1/5 of circumferential speed of inner ring outer
surface because air wall formed by surrounding air
Fig. 12-8 Spray Lubrication
revolving with bearing tends to weaken the jet
stream.
Provided that total volume of lubricant is same, (7) Oil Air Lubrication
the more the number of nozzles are, the smoother Oil air lubrication is a method that forcefully feeds
and the greater the cooling effect is(Fig. 12-7). the exactly calculated minimum amount of required
lubricant at an optimum interval to each bearing to
the end.
Because the minimum amount of fresh lubricant
is fed exactly and continuously, lubricant conta-
mination is also kept to the minimum, and air
cooling effect is maximized to keep the bearing
temperature sufficiently low. Also, pollution to the
environment is also kept to the minimum due to the
bare minimum amount of lubricant used(Fig. 12-9)

Fig. 12-7 Jet Lubrication

(6) Spray Lubrication

Spray lubrication is a method that vaporizes the
lubricant by blowing in the air to be sprayed into
bearing. It has following merits.
- Due to small volume of lubricant required, its Fig. 12-9 Oil Air Lubrication
churning resistance gets smaller, which in return
makes it suitable for high speed revolution bea-
rings.
- Because it minimizes volume of discharged lub-
ricant, the pollution to the equipment can be also
kept to the minimum.
- Because fresh lubricant is fed all the time, bear-
ing life can be extended.

Therefore, it is widely used for various machining

tools, such as high speed spindle, high speed
revolution pump, or roll neck bearing of roller(Fig. 12-8).

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