Grease test system for improved life of ball and roller bearings

An earlier developed system (FE9) for mechanodynamical testing of lubricating greases for ball and rolling bearings was used to assess, at temperatures between 100 and 200 C, grease lives of the following lubricating greases used in this test system: a standard grease, lithium soap, NLGI class 3 grease, a special grease for high temperatures, and a special grease not suitable for high temperatures. The paper describes the design of FE9 tester, the test rig, the test procedure, and the results of evaluation. It was found that lowering the test temperature led to a steeper increase of the grease life. Starved lubrication was found to be the major cause of failure at moderate temperatures, especially at the areas of sliding motion, such as betweeen cage and the rolling element.