Lecture 2
Lecture 2
Lecture 2
Engineering Tribology
By Gwidon W. Stachowiak and Andrew W. Batchelor
Summary
• Oil viscosity
• Viscosity temperature relationship
• Viscosity index
• viscosity pressure relationship
• Viscosity-shear rate relationship
• Viscosity measurements
Questions to address
• What are lubricants made of, and what are their properties
• Are oils different from greases
• Can mineral oils be used in high performance engines
• Which oils are the most suitable for application to gears, bearings
etc..
• What criteria should lubricant meet etc….
Performance of Lubricants
• The function of a lubricant is to control friction and wear in a given
system
• The basic requirements therefore relate to the performance of the
lubricant are
a) Its influence upon friction and wear characteristics of a system
b) The lubricant quality, which reflects its resistance to degradation in
service
Recent lubricant research
• Lubricant research is recently dedicated to the study of: prevention
and monitoring of oil degradation
• Since the lifetime of an oil is as important as its initial level of
performance
Oil degradation cause:
a) Damage to the operating machinery
b) Cost in terms of lost time and money (Machines holding thousand
of liters of lubricating oil)
c) Cause corrosion of contacting surfaces
Oil viscosity
• The parameter that plays a fundamental role in lubrication is oil
viscosity
• Different oils exhibit different viscosities
• In addition, oil viscosity changes with:
a) Temperature
b) Shear rate
c) Pressure
d) Thickness of the generated oil film
Common misconception about oil viscosity
• It appears that the more viscous oils would give better performance,
since the generated films would be thicker and a better separation of
the two surfaces in contact would be achieved
• This unfortunately is not always the case since more viscous oils
require
a) More Power to be sheared
b) The power losses are higher and more heat is generated resulting in
a substantial increase in the temperature of the contacting surfaces
Oil viscosity
• For engineering applications the oil viscosity is usually chosen to give
optimum performance at the required temperature
• Knowing the temperature at which the oil is expected to operate is
critical as oil viscosity is
a) Extremely temperature dependent
b) The viscosity of different oils varies at different rates with
temperature
c) Affected by the velocities of the operating surfaces (shear rates)
Dynamic Viscosity
• Consider two flat surfaces separated by a film of fluid of thickness ‘h’
• The force required to move the upper surface is proportional to the
wetted area ‘A’ and
• The velocity gradient
‘u/h’
• F α A × u/h
Viscosity-temperature equations
Viscosity-Temperature Equations
where:
a,b, c,d are constants;
υ is the kinematic viscosity
[m2/s]
T is the absolute
temperature [K]
Viscosity-temperature equations
Viscosity-Temperature Equations
• The most accurate of equation given in previous slides is the Vogel
equation
• Three viscosity measurements at different temperatures for a specific
oil are needed in order to determine the three constants in this
equation
• The oil viscosity can then be calculated at the required temperature,
or the operating temperature can be calculated if the viscosity is
known
Viscosity-Temperature Chart
• The most widely used chart is the ASTM (American Society for Testing
Materials) Viscosity-Temperature chart (ASTM D341), which is entirely
empirical and is based on Walther’s equation
Viscosity index
• The non-Newtonian
behavior of some selected
fluids
Viscosity-shear rate relationship
• There are two types of non-Newtonian behavior that are important
from the engineering viewpoint:
a) Pseudoplastic behavior
b) Thixotropic behavior
Pseudoplastic behavior
• Pseudoplastic behavior is also known in the literature as shear
thinning and is associated with the thinning of the fluid as the shear
rate increases
• During the process of shearing in
polymer fluids, long molecules
that are randomly oriented and
with no connected structure tend
to align, giving a reduction in
apparent viscosity
Pseudoplastic behavior
• In emulsions a drop in viscosity is due to orientation and deformation
of the emulsion particles. The process is usually reversible
• Multigrade oils are particularly susceptible to this type of behavior;
they shear thin with increased shear rate
Pseudoplastic behavior of lubricating oils
Dilatancy behavior
• The contrary phenomenon to shear thinning is shear thickening, also
referred to as Dilatancy
• Dilatant fluids are usually suspensions with a high solid content
• The increase in viscosity with shear rate is attributed to the rearranging of
the particles suspended in the fluid, resulting in the dilation of voids
between the particles
• The theory is that in the non-shear condition molecules adopt a close
packed formation, which gives the minimum volume of voids
• When shear is applied the molecules move to an open pack formation,
dilating the voids
• As a result, there is an insufficient amount of fluid to fill the voids, giving an
increased resistance to flow
Thixotropic Behavior
• Thixotropic behavior, also known in the literature as shear duration
thinning
• It is associated with a loss of consistency of the fluid as the duration
of shear increases
• During the process of shearing,
it is believed that the structure
of the thixotropic fluid is being
broken down
Thixotropic Behavior
• The destruction of the fluid structure progresses with time, giving a
reduction in apparent viscosity, until a certain balance is reached
where the structure rebuilds itself at the same rate as it is destroyed
• In some cases the process is
reversible, i.e., viscosity returns
to its original value when shear
is removed, but permanent
viscosity loss is also possible
Inverse thixotropy
• A converse effect to thixotropic behavior, i.e., thickening of the fluid
with the duration of shearing, can also occur with some fluids
• An example of a fluid with such properties is synovial fluid, a natural
lubricant found in human and animal joints
• It was found that the viscosity of synovial fluid increases with the
duration of shearing
• The longer the duration of shearing the better the lubricating film
which is generated by the body.
Viscosity measurements
• The most commonly used in engineering applications are capillary
and rotational viscometers
• In general, capillary viscometers are suitable for fluids with negligible
non-Newtonian effects while rotational viscometers are suitable for
fluids with significant non-Newtonian effects
• Some viscometers have a special heating bath built in, in order to
control and measure the temperature, so that the viscosity-
temperature characteristics can be obtained
• Water is suitable for the temperature range between 0° and 99°C. For
higher temperatures mineral oils are used and for low temperatures
down to -54°C, ethyl alcohol or acetone is used.
Capillary viscometers
• Capillary viscometers are based on the principle that a specific
volume of fluid will flow through the capillary (ASTM D445, ASTM
D2161)
• The time necessary for this volume
of fluid to flow gives the ‘kinematic
viscosity’
• Flow through the capillary must be
laminar and the deductions are
based on Poiseuille’s law for steady
viscous flow in a pipe
Capillary viscometers
• In order to measure the viscosity of the fluid by one of the
viscometers the container is filled with oil between the etched lines
The measurement is then made by timing the period required for the
oil meniscus to flow from the first
to the second timing mark
Capillary viscometers
• Assuming that the fluids are Newtonian, and neglecting end effects,
the kinematic viscosity can be calculated from the formula:
υ = πr4glt / 8LV = k(t2 − t1)
Where:
• υ is the kinematic viscosity [m2/s]; r is the capillary radius [m]; l is the
mean hydrostatic head [m]
• g is the earth acceleration [m/s2]; L is the capillary length [m]; V is the
flow volume of the fluid [m3]
• t is the flow time through the capillary, t = (t2 − t1), [s]; k is the
capillary constant, which has to be determined experimentally by
applying reference fluid with known viscosity
Short tube viscometer
• Kinematic viscosity can also be measured by so-called ‘short tube’
viscometers. In the also known as efflux viscometers
• viscosity is determined by measuring the time necessary for a given
volume of fluid to discharge under gravity through a short tube orifice
in the base of the instrument
• The most commonly used viscometers are Redwood, Saybolt and
Engler
Schematic diagram of a short tube viscometer