SYSTEMS, STRATEGIES & RESEARCH FOR LUBRICATION PROFESSIONALS AN PUBLICATION | APRIL 2018

TLT
TRIBOLOGY &
LUBRICATION
TECHNOLOGY
Oil Analysis Past and Future
How improvements in this multi-disciplinary science
are paving the way for tomorrow’s tribologists.
14 YEARS
of publishing excellence

Intro to detergents
Types, chemistries,
functions and properties

Q&A with Anirudha Sumant

Energy efficiency and novel
carbon materials

Auto Tribology
Return of the Wankel?

Rational Rationality
Why public policy
succeeds—and fails

Fore!
The tribology of golf clubs

Seal applications
Your most difficult problems
(and solutions)

STLE 365 App

Annual Meeting section

sponsored by Focus Chemical.

Digital TLT: Sponsored this month by Bruker at www.stle.org.

It’s About Time
TRIBOLOGY TESTING IS ABOUT TO IMPROVE
The Nanovea T2000 is the worlds first dual controlled load
Tribometer providing vertical force oscillation at frequen-
cies up to 150Hz. It combines advanced pneumatic
technology with a state of the art linear electromagnetic
stage to provide controlled loading from 1mN to 2000N
during rotative and linear testing. Pneumatic is used from
5 to 2000N offering multiple advantages compared with
age old spring/motor technologies used on other
systems. With spring/motor technologies, the load sensor
is typically placed behind the spring. This means that it is
not measuring the actual variation of load applied on the
surface during the test. The T2000 measures the load by a
direct connection between the ball holder and the actual
load cell. This ensures that the load measured is actually
the load applied on the surface.

The linear electromagnetic loading system of the T2000

can apply a vertical force of 0.2 to 20N at frequencies up to
150Hz. As an example, the normal load can be increased
from 0 to100N with the pneumatic technology and then
the linear motor can vary the load from 90 to 110N and up
to 150 times per second. This gives the unique capability
of superposing a control fatigue or vibration level to the
main constant force applied by the pneumatic system.
This electromagnetic linear stage can also apply directly
very low loads from 1mN to 5N to complete the full range.

• 1mN - 2000N Controlled Load Range

• Vertical force oscillation up to 150Hz
• Friction Measured Direct Not By Torque
• In-Situ Point or Line Sensor Scanning
• Auto Wear Calculation of Ball or Pin
• Multiple Environment Options
Learn more
nanovea.com
Contents
TLT / APRIL 2018 / VOLUME 74 / NO. 4

F E AT U R E S

MARKET TRENDS
18 Flat sales forecasted for global industrial
oils and grease
Growth opportunities will come from synthetics, OEM
tie-ups and value-added services. By Kunal Mahajan

20 MINUTES WITH…
24 Anirudha V. Sumant
This materials scientist with Argonne National
Laboratory develops energy-efficient systems based
on novel carbon materials. By Rachel Fowler

VOLUNTEERS LIST
28 2018 STLE Volunteers List
In honor of National Volunteer Week, STLE recognizes
those individuals who devote their time and efforts to

38
helping the society and our industry grow.

SCHOLARSHIP RESEARCH
32 Tribological Behavior and Mechanisms of Cold
Sprayed Ni and Ni-WC Composite Coatings
Tribology research report written by the recipient
of the society’s 2017 scholarship program.
By Tyler Torgerson

COMMENTARY
38 Rational Rationality
Too many government policies are based on good
intentions but poor conception and execution.
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham

WEBINARS
40 Introduction to detergents
An in-depth look at types, chemistries, functions and
properties. By Debbie Sniderman

FEATURE ARTICLE
48 Oil analysis past and future
Each milestone paves the way for advancements in
sampling techniques, data analyses and timeliness
of reporting. By Jeanna Van Rensselar

2016 TFC HIGHLIGHTS

54 Effect of Hydrogen and Oxygen Partial Pressure
on the Tribochemistry of Silicon Oxide-Containing
Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon
The 2018 TFC Planning Committee is partnering with
TLT to publish abstracts from technical presentations
made at the 2016 TFC. By F. Mangolini, K.D.
Koshigan, M.H. Van Benthem, J.A. Ohlhausen, J.B.
McClimon, J. Hilbert, J. Fontaine and R.W. Carpick

PEERREVIEWED PAPER (EDITOR’S CHOICE)

56 Wear Rate Prognosis Through Particle Size
Distribution

48
By Alan Beerbower

BOOK REVIEW
84 ASM Handbook, Volume 18: Friction, Lubrication,
and Wear Technology, edited by George E. Totten.
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 1

Contents
D E PA R T M E N T S

12 Tech Beat by Dr. Neil Canter

• How will the growing use of
plug-in electric vehicles affect
the power grid?
• Converting shale gas into
hydrocarbon fuels
• Hydrogen generation using a
ruthenium-based catalyst.

66 Newsmakers
• Acme-Hardesty
• The Timken Co.
• Schaeffler
• Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc.
and more.

72 New Products
• Five-ball rolling-contact
fatigue tester
• Heavy neutral base stock
•
88
Fuel-efficient Traxon synthetic
gear oil
• Dual-controlled load tribometer.

74 Sounding Board
Describe the most difficult sealing
application you faced and how you
solved it.

78 Advertisers Index COLUMNS

80 Resources
Books
6 President’s Report
• Materials and Thermodynamics Fore the love of tribology!
• Food Toxicology: Current
Advances and Future 8 From the Editor
Challenges Get a grip!
• STLE Certification Exams
10 Headquarters Report
• ICETAT 2018
Membership myths and realities
• 22nd International Conference
on Wear of Materials 86 Cutting Edge
• STLE Local Section Meeting Lighting up the contacts

12
Calendar
• Report: 3.2% Growth Forecast 88 Automotive Tribology
for Asia/Pacific Auto Lubricants Return of the Wankel?

Front cover image © Can Stock Photo / jeffbanks

Copyright © 2018 Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. All Rights Reserved.
TLT magazine is owned and published in print and electronically by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE). The views set forth in this magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily
the views of STLE. Material from TLT magazine may be reproduced only with written permission from STLE. TLT magazine assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete
information. For more information, contact us at TLT@stle.org.
Subscription and Single Copies: Current volume single copies are $25 (not including shipping and handling). Annual subscription rate is $236/U.S., $305/international. Prepayment is required before
subscription is started. Remittances from foreign countries must be by international money order or bank draft drawn on U.S. bank.
Tribology & Lubrication Technology (USPS 865740) Vol. 74, Number 4, (ISSN-1545-858), is published monthly by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Hwy, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2376.
Periodicals Postage is Paid at Park Ridge, IL and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tribology and Lubrication Technology, 840 Busse Hwy, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2376.

2 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

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 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
What role does tribology play in
PUBLISHED BY
moving San Francisco’s cable cars? Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
“Educating lubrication engineers & tribology researchers since 1943”
See Page 8. STLE International Headquarters
840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-2376
Phone: 847-825-5536 • Fax: 847-825-1456 • www.stle.org • info@stle.org

EDITOR
Evan Zabawski, CLS TestOil ezabawski@testoil.com

PUBLISHER/EDITORINCHIEF
Thomas T. Astrene tastrene@stle.org

MANAGING EDITOR
Rachel Fowler rfowler@stle.org

SENIOR FEATURE WRITER

Jeanna Van Rensselar

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Dr. Neil Canter, Dr. Robert M. Gresham, Dr. Nancy McGuire, Debbie Sniderman

COLUMNISTS
Michael Anderson, Dr. Edward P. Becker, Ken Pelczarski, Jack Poley,
Edward P. Salek, Dr. Nicholas D. Spencer, Dr. Wilfred T. Tysoe, R. David Whitby

CIRCULATION COORDINATORS
Myrna Scott, Nadine Sanchez (847) 825-5536

ADVERTISING SALES
Tracy Nicholas VanEe Phone: (630) 922-3459 Fax: (630) 904-4563 tnicholas@stle.org

DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Joe Ruck

TECHNICAL EDITORS
Dr. William Anderson Afton Chemical Corp. bill.anderson@aftonchemical.com
Dr. John Bomidi Baker Hughes, a GE company john.bomidi@bakerhughes.com
Michelle Brakke Lubrication Technologies Inc. michellebra@lubetech.com
Patrick Brutto Hangsterfer’s Laboratories patrick.e.brutto@gmail.com
Dr. Jose Castillo Aleris Corp. Jose.Castillo@aleris.com
Dr. Geetha Chimata Imatrex Inc. g.chimata@imatrex.com
Bridget Dubbert Engineered Lubricants Co. bdubbert@englube.com
Dr. Alan Eachus Self-employed drace.dbd@comcast.net
Dr. Philip Egberts University of Calgary philip.egberts@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Monica A. Ford Ingevity monica.ford@ingevity.com
Dr. Hamed Ghaednia Ford Motor Co. hghaedni@ford.com
Dr. Arnab Ghosh Sentient Science aghosh@sentientscience.com
Dr. Martin Greaves The Dow Chemical Co. mrgreaves@dow.com
Dr. Ken Hope Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP hopekd@cpchem.com
Dr. Mohammad Motaher Hossain Texas A&M University-Kingsville mohammad.hossain@tamuk.edu
Tyler Housel Zschimmer & Schwarz, Inc. thousel@lexolube.com
Dr. Harman Khare University of Pennsylvania hkhare@seas.upenn.edu
Dr. Anoop Kumar Royal Mfg Co. LP anoopk@royalmfg.com
David Lindsay Afton Chemical Corp. david.lindsay@aftonchemical.com
Jory Maccan Imperial Oil maccan.jory@gmail.com
Brad McCann Nelson Oil Co. bmccann@nelsonlubricants.com
Shawn McCarthy Ocean State Oil shawn.mccarthy@oceanstateoil.com
Les Miller SKF/Kaydon Bearings lmiller@kaydon.com
Dr. Hamidreza Mohseni Bosch Brake Components hamidreza.mohseni@us.bosch.com
Rob Morien Rexnord robert.morien@rexnord.com
Jason Papacek Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. jason.papacek@calumetspecialty.com
Dr. Steven Patton University of Dayton Research Institute Steve.Patton@udri.udayton.edu
Brian Pettinato Elliott Group bpettina@elliott-turbo.com
Dr. Donald T. Robertson BG Products, Inc.
Doug Sackett Total Lubricants USA doug.sackett@total.com
© Can Stock Photo / lunamarina

Dr. Richard F. Salant Georgia Institute of Technology richard.salant@me.gatech.edu

Dr. Eugene Scanlon BASF eugene.scanlon@basf.com
Dr. Raj Shah Koehler Instrument Co. rshah@koehlerinstrument.com
Dr. Shuangwen Sheng National Renewable Energy Laboratory shuangwen.sheng@nrel.gov
Dr. Don Smolenski Strategic Management of Oil, LLC donald.smolenski@gmail.com
Edward Sunghing Chem-Ecol, Ontario, Canada esunghing@chem-ecol.com
Dr. Simon C. Tung Tung Innovation Technology Consulting Inc. simontung168@gmail.com
Dr. Rohit Voothaluru The Timken Co. rohit.voothaluru@timken.com
Dr. Dehua Yang Ebatco dyang@ebatco.com
Follow STLE on: Dr. Guosong Zeng Lehigh University guz210@lehigh.edu

4 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Fore the love of tribology!
Golf is one of many sports with a tribological focus.
By Michael Anderson
Tribology plays an important
part in the world of sports—from
stronger materials for improved
safety upon impact to special
surfaces designed to reduce or
increase friction, drag and/or
wind resistance. But no sport
involves tribology more than
my favorite: golf. Yes, golf. And
now as spring arrives, golfers
religiously flock to the course
like the swallows to Capistrano.
Mark Twain referred to golf
as a good walk spoiled. I think
of it more as a series of mistakes
punctuated by an occasional mir-
acle. Nevertheless, golf is one
of the most fascinating games
played by men and women of all
ages. It doesn’t take strength but
coordination. One shot can bring
you jubilance and the next one
total frustration. But how does
taking a long stick with an intri-
cately designed head on the end
actually make the golf ball take
flight? I am sure you can guess:
tribology!
Let’s first look at the golf
clubs. There are three ma-
Simulators can display a tribologically well-executed golf shot, or not.
6 • APRIL 2018
jor types of golf clubs: woods
(though today made of metal
and/or composite materials),
irons and putters. Each has its
own function. Woods are de-
signed for distance: the more,
the better. Its design and mate-
rials are used to impart a lower
amount of spin to get the best
amount of height, known as
carry, and allow the ball to roll
when it hits the ground.
Irons are designed to impart
a higher amount of spin. Spin
gets your ball to go up into the
air and travel a specific amount
of distance to reach the putting
green. Spin also makes the ball
stop when it hits the ground.
What makes the ball spin? Tri-
bologically speaking: friction.
This is why you need to hit the
ball on a descending part of the
stroke. You must hit down to
get the ball to go up. Ironically
if you try to hit the ball on the
upswing, the ball will go down,
known as topping the ball.
Lastly, the putter is designed
strictly for precisely rolling the
ball along the surface of the put-
ting green, and if you do it right
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
Next time you slice your ball into a pond, blame it on tribology.
it drops out of sight in a little
hole. Here the spin is in reverse
to enhance forward rolling.
What is interesting and a lot
of fun is trying these new clubs
at a golf store’s indoor simula-
tor, which includes hitting into
a screen showing a hole from a
famous golf course. Through the
use of electronics, many parts
of the golf shot can be analyzed,
including ball and swing speed,
launch angle, backspin, sidespin
and distance. The flight of the ball
is shown nicely on the screen, in-
cluding the bad shots that end up
in the woods. But, alas, there was
no magic club that made me hit
the ball farther and straighter. I
left with the same driver I have
been using for 10 years.
But back to tribology. In a
golf swing, the ball is in con-
tact with the face of the club for
about 450 millionths of a second.
I wonder how this is measured.
But in this very short time, fric-
tion plays a big part in how the
ball travels in the air. Have your
swing come a little inside out and
the friction between the face of
the club and the ball will cause
the ball to curve left (hook); a
little to the outside in and the
ball curves to the right (slice).
So when that water hazard is on
the right side of the fairway, we
swing to the left to avoid it, and
the ball tends to curve more so
to the right and into the water.
It doesn’t seem logical and is
certainly not fair.
So the next time you are on
the golf course, just enjoy your-
self. And if you happen to slice
it in the water hazard, blame it
on tribology. Because this is just
one more way to prove that tri-
bology is everywhere.
Mike Anderson is area manager
Asia Pacific/Latin America for
Falex Corp. in Sugar Grove, Ill.
You can reach him at
manderson@falex.com.
WWW.STLE.ORG
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FROM THE EDITOR
San Francisco’s cable cars suffer a lot of wear.
By Evan Zabawski
Upon stepping out of The Buena
Vista Café, after enjoying one of
its famous Irish coffees, I felt
the thrum of the cable running
under Hyde Street. This cable
is one of four 1.25-inch cables
moving at a steady 9.5 miles
per hour to provide locomotion
for the historic and iconic cable
cars of San Francisco.
The story is that Andrew
Smith Hallidie witnessed a
horsecar being pulled up Jack-
son Street in 1869 when the
horse slipped on the wet cob-
blestones and was dragged to
its death. Inspired by this inci-
dent and his experience using
wire rope cable (of his father’s
own patent) for moving iron ore
from the mines, Hallidie tested
his first cable car on Clay Street
on Aug. 2, 1872. One year later,
to the day, the Clay Street Hill
Railroad began public service.
The basic concept is to
have a cable run up and down a
length of street; at one end is the
powerhouse and at the other it
is turned around in a large pul-
ley called a sheave (pronounced
shiv). Cable cars must be able to
grip and let go of the cable on
demand, thus controlling their
motion. The concept is very
similar to that of high-speed
chairlifts found at ski resorts,
albeit pre-dating them by more
than a hundred years.
Gripping the cable allows
the cable car to be pulled along
streets and up hills and also al-
lows for a controlled descent
down hills without the need for
8 • APRIL 2018
Get a grip!
braking. The main mechanism for
gripping the cable is simply called
a grip, and the first iteration used
on the Clay Street line was a
screw-within-a-screw design.
Later design variations are
identified as being top grip, side
grip or bottom grip. The side
grip version was initially quite
popular, but twists and turns
along newer cable
car routes required
“let-gos,” which fa-
vored the use of a
bottom grip style.
Let-gos are places
where the cable
car was required to
release one cable
and pick up another,
needing the atten-
tion and skill of the
gripman.
The bottom
grip style was de-
signed by one of
Hallidie’s draftsmen
named William Ep-
pelsheimer and is
still in use today. Es-
sentially a 311-pound
set of pliers, the
grip’s jaws exert up-
ward of 30,000 psi to
clamp down on the cable forging
a temporary connection with a
15,500-pound cable car. Gripping
and releasing a moving cable
takes its toll on the mild steel
dies that contact the cable, and
they are replaced every three or
four days due to wear.
When performed correctly,
the gripman is able to grip the
cable without slippage, but if an
error occurs the car must roll
back down the hill and try again.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
Essentially a 311-pound
set of pliers, the grip’s
jaws exert upward of
30,000 psi to clamp down
on the cable forging a
temporary connection
with a 15,500-pound
cable car.
On some descending curves
and when approaching passen-
ger stops, the gripman must re-
lease the cable with such timing
as to discourage the need for
excessive braking. When the ca-
ble car must slow down or stop,
it can rely on three separate
braking systems to ensure this
is always possible. The wheel
brakes are a simple metal shoe
that press against the outside of
the wheel; the track brake is a
long, wooden (pine) shoe that
presses downward against the
track; and the emergency brake
is an 18-inch-long piece of steel
that is dropped into the cable
slot until it wedges tight enough
to stop the car.
The track brakes wear at
nearly the same rate as the
grip dies and also are replaced
every three days or
so. Sometimes smoke
can be seen emanating
from the track brake,
with a distinct smell of
burning wood detect-
able to the passen-
gers. The emergency
brakes generate such
sudden and sufficient
friction that they often
require removal from
the slot using a cutting
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Author: HaeB.
torch.
Despite multiple
braking systems, it is
possible for a cable
car to lose control, as
it did when it “lost the
cable” on Dec. 3, 1967,
in the worst cable car
accident in San Fran-
cisco’s history, right
where this tale began.
It was reported at the time that
all the braking systems were on
full, but without the cable they
were not strong enough to hold
the car on the steep slippery
grade, exemplifying the impor-
tance of the grip.
Evan Zabawski, CLS, is the
senior technical advisor for
TestOil in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada. You can reach him at
ezabawski@testoil.com.
WWW.STLE.ORG
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HEADQUARTERS REPORT
Membership myths and realities
What’s the No. 1 reason why people join organizations?
By Edward P. Salek, CAE
Executive Director
STLE, like almost every asso-
ciation, puts considerable effort
into providing members and po-
tential members with reasons
to join the organization. Some
are tangible such as program
discounts or access to valu-
able information. Others are
intangible and have to do with
peer networking or a desire to
be part of an organization that’s
the leading authority in the field.
All of these things offer
great value and encourage
people and companies to con-
tinue supporting an organiza-
tion. However, there’s also a
very different school of thought
about what makes people join
associations in the first place.
A chief proponent is Amanda
Kaiser (Kaiser Insights LLC),
who calls herself a “qualitative
member researcher.” One of her
latest projects was focused on
asking hundreds of association
members why they joined. What
she found is surprising.
“I estimate that of all the
associations where members
join at will, my guess is around
80% of members join because
someone said they should,”
she wrote in a recent blog post.
“This means the most important
thing you can do is delight cur-
rent members and make sure
they know the reason the as-
sociation is thriving is because
members like them recruit more
members.”
Using the Kaiser formula,
STLE should be a beneficiary of
this referral dynamic. When we
10 • APRIL 2018
The answer might surprise you!
© Can Stock Photo / michaeldb
conduct satisfaction surveys,
STLE members give us a 90%
positive rating. Our member-
ship growth rate stands at 5%
overall, with corporate mem-
bership increasing at an above-
average 10% rate.
Traditional products and ser-
vices continue to be the founda-
tion for this level of support. TLT,
now in its 14th year of publica-
tion, retains its status as STLE’s
top member service. Similarly,
the STLE Annual Meeting & Ex-
hibition has seen steady growth
in the number of technical pre-
sentations and exhibitors during
the past five years. Average at-
tendance at the conference has
grown by double digits.
We also are enhancing
membership value by provid-
ing new perspectives and ser-
vices that answer the proverbial
question: What have we done
for members lately?
STLE places a major em-
phasis on exploring how the
field of tribology fits into the
bigger picture of business and
economic trends. For example,
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
the keynote speaker at the 2018
Annual Meeting (May 20-24 in
Minneapolis, Minn.) is Dr. Rob-
ert W. Ivester, director of the
Advanced Manufacturing Office
(AMO) in the Office of Energy Effi-
ciency and Renewable Energy at
the U.S. Department of Energy.
Ivester is a key player in efforts
to bring innovative manufactur-
ing technologies and materials,
such as additive manufacturing,
to full-scale industrial use.
The second area of emphasis
is to provide continuing profes-
sional education opportunities to
individuals working with the de-
velopment, production, market-
ing and use of tribology-related
products and lubricants. During
the past few years STLE has bol-
stered its education programs by
adding numerous resources that
the industry can utilize as train-
ing options.
Topping the list is the
Learning Pathways, an online
resource library that helps
technical professionals align
and target their education and
career-development needs. The
A recent research report from
Kaiser Insights LLC reveals
that 80% of members join an
association because someone
said they should.
Learning Pathways include con-
tent resources from hundreds
of articles in TLT magazine,
in-person courses, Webinars,
short courses and books. They
are organized into two job clas-
sifications: lubrication specialist
(involved with evaluation and
selection of proper lubricants as
well as troubleshooting lubrica-
tion problems) and oil analyst
(responsible for oil sampling,
review of oil analysis reports
and overall care of equipment).
You can access the Learn-
ing Pathways at www.stle.org.
Much of the material is available
at no charge, but there are por-
tions restricted to STLE mem-
bers only.
Assuming Kaiser’s research
is correct, all these great prod-
ucts will only get us so far when
it comes to organizational suc-
cess. We still need your help.
If you’re part of the 90%
satisfied with membership, I
hope you’ll encourage people in
your network to experience the
benefits of STLE membership.
Membership growth makes this
a better organization for every-
one involved.
You can reach Certified
Association Executive Ed Salek
at esalek@stle.org.
WWW.STLE.ORG
DAWN OF A
NEW ANTIOXIDANT

Lubricant Additive

Outstanding Performance
in Both Thin-Film and Bulk
Oxidation Protection

hemic
ilt C a
rb
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LLC

30 Winfield Street, PO Box 5150, Norwalk, CT 06856-5150 UL

(203) 853-1400 • F: (203) 853-1452
®

petro@vanderbiltchemicals.com • www.vanderbiltchemicals.com
1
IS

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008 100

Registered and pending trademarks appearing in these materials are those of R.T. Vanderbilt Holding Company, Inc. or its respective wholly owned subsidiaries. For complete listings, please visit this location for trademarks, www.rtvanderbiltholding.com.
TECH BEAT
How will the growing use of plug-in
electric vehicles affect the power grid?
A new model based on a bottom-up
approach quantifies consumer energy-use
behavior and real-world vehicle usage.
By Dr. Neil Canter
Contributing Editor
Demand for plug-in electric
vehicles (PEVs) is growing
KEY CONCEPTS
globally as regulations are
A new study suggests motivating automotive OEMs
the increasing use of and consumers to move away
plug-in electric vehicles from cars powered by internal
might negatively affect combustion engines. In 2016 the
the power grid.
number of PEVs in use globally
was greater than two million
The overall effect
vehicles, an approximately 60%
of more plug-in
increase from 2015.1
electric vehicles
on the aggregate
A challenge facing research-
ers is better understanding how
power grid
electric vehicle performance can
is limited.
be optimized. In a previous TLT
article, a reinforcement-learning
If local clusters of
consumers charge their energy management system
plug-in electric vehicles model was developed that en-
at the same time, the ables plug-in-hybrid electric
study concludes that vehicles to more efficiently oper-
the power grid ate by constantly learning about
will be stressed. the environment in which the
automobile is traveling.2 A trial
12 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
conducted on a highway reduced
fuel consumption by 12%.
As PEV use grows, one con-
cern that must be addressed is:
How will this affect the power
grid? The nightmare scenario
is consumers will all decide to
plug in their PEVs at the same
time to recharge their batteries.
This growing demand may place
too much demand on the power
grid leading to its collapse in the
worst-case scenario. Growth in
the use of PEVs is adding further
complexity for electric utilities
in figuring out how to manage
power generation, transmission
and distribution.
Most past efforts to model
the power demand originating
from PEVs had limitations. Dr.
Matteo Muratori, transportation
and energy systems engineer at
the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, Colo., says,
“Previous models assessing
how PEVs affected the electric
Growth in the use
of PEVs is adding
further complex-
ity for electric
utilities in figuring
out how to manage
power generation,
transmission and
distribution.
grid assumed that consumers
© Can Stock Photo / dashark
charged their vehicles in a smart
manner, which was convenient
for the electric utility.”
Muratori believes that there
is another side to the story. He
WWW.STLE.ORG
says, “PEV owners may decide
to charge their vehicles at a
time and in a manner that is
convenient for them and not for
the electric utility. They are not
paid to charge the vehicle in a
particular manner.”
To take into consideration
that consumers will act in their
own best interests, Muratori
developed a new model that
is based on a bottom-up ap-
proach quantifying consumer
energy-use behavior and real-
world vehicle use in a specific
U.S. region.
Muratori’s model evaluated
how in-home PEV charging in
an uncoordinated manner af-
fects residential power demand
(see Figure 1). The model was Figure 1. A new study showed that locations with clusters of plug-in electric vehicles might stress the power grid
a simulation that included 200 if all of the vehicles are charged at the same time. (Figure courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.)
residential households in the
U.S. Midwest. Within this com-
munity, Muratori indicated that
the Midwest was used because
his modelling data is validated production. It is instantaneous. operate at 6.6 kilowatts, which with consumers and create an
in this region as compared to This means that time at which is typical for residential use. effective business model.”
other regions. electricity is used impacts the Consumers can charge a vehi- This study showed that
Muratori says, “An evalua- power grid.” cle three times faster than when PEVs can negatively impact the
tion was done on demand for Further complicating the using Level 1 charging.” electric grid. In the future, Mura-
electricity from the aggregate situation at the local level is the This means that consumers tori will be evaluating the value
and the local level perspec- role of the transformer. Mura- should have a preference for us- of flexibility in charging and as-
tives. Due to the small number tori says, “A cluster of PEVs can ing Level 2 charging due to con- sessing the impact of charging
of PEVs and the large residen- place a significant burden on the venience of charging their PEV at public stations on the elec-
tial electricity consumption, the transformer that could potential- faster, or maybe only needing to tric grid. Additional information
overall effect on the aggregate ly reduce its operating life.” charge a PEV two to three times is available in a recent Nature
power grid is limited. But the Another factor is whether a week instead of seven days a Energy article3 or by contacting
challenge will be at the local the consumer has the opportu- week with a Level 1 charger. Muratori at Matteo.Muratori@
level where there may be clus- nity to use Level 1 charging or Muratori found that consumers nrel.gov.
ters of consumers who pur- Level 2 charging. Muratori ex- in the same cluster who used
chased PEVs and may charge plains, “Level 1 charging is done Level 2 charging at the same
them at the same time, placing a with a normal plug at 120 volts time stressed the electric grid, REFERENCES
burden on the local power grid.” in a similar manner to using an requiring upgrades to the distri- 1. Global EV Outlook 2017,
Muratori feels there is an extension cord. This already bution infrastructure. “Two Million and Counting,
important difference between exists for all consumers, but it Muratori also pointed out International Energy Agency.
gasoline consumption and takes longer to charge the PEV. that PEVs can help ease the bur- 2. Canter, N. (2016), “Improving
electricity use when it comes to Level 1 chargers operate at 1.92 den by acting as electric storage the efficiency of plug-in hybrid
automobiles. He says, “When a kilowatts. Level 2 chargers are devices that can relieve pres- electric vehicles,” TLT, 72 (5),
pp. 16-17.
consumer fills up the gas tank similar in appearance to a gas sure by transmitting electricity
in the automobile, it makes very pump and operate at 240 volts. back to the grid during periods 3. Muratori, M. (2018), “Impact of
uncoordinated plug-in electric
little difference as liquid fuels They have the capability to op- of high demand. He says, “The
vehicle charging on residential
are easy to store. In the case of erate up to 19.2 kilowatts, but technology is in place to do this, power demand,” Nature
electricity, however, consump- for the purpose of this model- but it is a matter of whether util- Energy, Doi: 10.1038/s41560-
tion occurs at the same time as ing study they are assumed to ities can coordinate this benefit 017-0074-z.

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 13

TECH BEAT
Converting shale gas into
hydrocarbon fuels
A new catalyst activates carbon-hydrogen
bonds under viable operating conditions.
The rapid development of hy-
draulic fracturing over the past
decade has led to the produc-
tion of larger quantities of shale
gas that mainly contain light
alkanes such as ethane and
propane. One of the challenges
facing researchers is finding
KEY CONCEPTS
ways to activate the C-H bonds
A single atom alloy in these alkanes so that they can
prepared by dispersion be used as precursors to deriva-
of platinum atoms tives such as hydrocarbon fuels.
in a copper metal
A previous TLT article de-
surface catalyzed the scribes a new approach at
conversion of light activating carbon-hydrogen
alkanes into their bonds by inserting an aromatic
corresponding alkenes. molecule to produce alkylated
aromatic hydrocarbons.1 This
No coking and good
process occurs through the
durability were
formation of a phenyl carbo-
observed with the single
cation intermediate. Alkylated
atom alloy catalyst.
aromatic hydrocarbons are pre-
cursors to aromatic sulfonates
If higher concentration
utilized in the lubricant industry
of platinum were added
as detergents, corrosion inhibi-
to the copper metal
tors, emulsifiers and extreme-
surface, then catalyst
pressure additives.
performance declined
The main industrial ap-
due to coking.
proach for activating carbon-
14 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
hydrogen bonds in alkanes is
steam cracking, but this reac-
tion is inefficient and energy
intensive. One reaction with
significant industrial interest is
converting light alkanes to al-
‘Single platinum
atoms reduced
the barrier to
carbon-hydrogen
activation without
breaking any
carbon-carbon
bonds that would
lead to coking.’
kenes such as ethylene, which
is a precursor to an important
base stock used in lubricants,
polyalphaolefins (PAOs).
E. Charles H. Sykes, profes-
sor of chemistry at Tufts Univer-
sity in Medford, Mass., indicates
that metal catalysts have been
used in an effort to improve the
conversion of alkanes to al-
kenes, but yields are limited due
to coking problems. He says,
“Coking is a buildup of carbon
that takes place as the carbon-
hydrogen bonds are breaking.
Current catalysts such as nickel
and platinum are so reactive
that they break carbon-hydro-
gen and carbon-carbon bonds
leading to a buildup of carbon on
the catalyst surface. This causes
major difficulties because it lit-
erally blocks the catalyst sites
shutting down the reaction.”
Sykes continues, “Platinum
has an additional disadvantage
due to its high cost. One option
is to work with copper, which
is just as inexpensive as nickel
but is much more resistant to
coking. The problem with using
copper is the high energy bar-
rier making it difficult to activate
© Can Stock Photo / serrnovik
carbon-hydrogen bonds.”
If an approach can be found
that combines the high reactiv-
ity of platinum with the ability of
copper to minimize coking, then
WWW.STLE.ORG

Figure 2. A scanning tunneling microscopy image on the left showed a model of the single atom alloy catalyst with
three platinum atoms in a copper metal surface. The image on the right showed a simulation of how methane is
activated on the surface of a single atom alloy catalyst. (Figure courtesy of Tufts University.)
a catalyst could be prepared
that activates carbon-hydrogen
bonds under viable operating
conditions. Such a catalyst has
now been developed.
Single atom alloys
Sykes and his colleagues from
Tufts and University College
London, UK, developed a new
catalyst in which single plati-
num atoms are dispersed in a
copper metal surface to produce
a single atom alloy (SAA) that
acts to convert light alkanes
to their corresponding alkenes
under realistic operating condi-
tions. He says, “Based on our
work using scanning tunnel-
ing microscopy (STM), we have
achieved a higher magnification
of a metal alloy surface than has
been seen before. This enables
us to see every single atom on
the metal surface. We decided
to produce a catalyst with the
smallest amount of the precious
metal platinum that can alloy in
the copper.”
One of the reasons the
researchers selected this ap-
WWW.STLE.ORG
proach is that past work showed
that platinum dispersed in a
copper surface acted as a cata-
lyst for selective hydrogenation
reactions including the industri-
ally relevant partial hydrogena-
tion of butadiene. The SAA cata-
lyst was prepared by reducing
cupric nitrate in an aqueous
solution with sodium borohy-
dride followed by deposition
on a silica support and calcina-
tion in air at 300 C to produce
copper nanoparticles (0.2-0.3
micron average aggregate par-
ticle size). Platinum atoms were
added to form the SAA catalyst
through a galvanic replacement
procedure.
Sykes says, “Dissolving plat-
inum in copper is a thermody-
namically favored process. We
found that adding 1-4 atomic %
platinum into copper produced
the most desirable concentra-
tion of single platinum atoms
in the copper (see the left STM
image in Figure 2). When we
added higher concentrations of
platinum, dimers and trimers of
platinum atoms started to form
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
and higher levels of coking
were observed during reaction
of light alkanes.”
The researchers conducted
catalyst studies under flow
conditions evaluating C-H acti-
vation in butane and found that
the SAA catalyst is effective at
250 C as compared to 550 C for
copper. Platinum catalyzed the
reaction at 100 C but catalytic
activity quickly deteriorated
due to coking. The researchers
then showed that SAA catalyst
were stale for over two days on
stream converting butane to
butene and hydrogen at 400 C.
Sykes says, “Based on quan-
tum mechanical studies by our
colleagues at University Col-
lege London, we found that the
single platinum atoms reduced
the barrier to carbon-hydrogen
activation without breaking
any carbon-carbon bonds that
would lead to coking.”
The researchers also ex-
amined the addition of methyl
groups to the SAA catalyst
surface by using methyl io-
dide. Sykes says, “We used a
technique called temperature-
programmed reaction combined
with STM and initially placed the
methyl iodide on the catalyst
surface at 5 K. Then we heated
the surface to whatever tem-
perature activated the carbon-
iodine bond and then cooled the
reaction back down to gain an
atomic-scale snapshot of the
reaction by examining the ac-
tive sites.”
The right image in Figure
2 shows theoretically how a
methane is activated on the
surface of the SAA catalyst.
Sykes indicates that future
work will include evaluation of
metal catalysts in activating
other bonds such as oxygen-
hydrogen, nitrogen-hydrogen,
carbon-oxygen and nitrogen-
oxygen in addition to carbon-
hydrogen using a combination
of experiments under ultra-
high vacuum conditions and
theoretical studies. He adds,
“We also are looking to design
and then test catalysts that
can be effective in accelerat-
ing many other reactions such
as the conversion of ethanol to
ethylene glycol. Our efforts will
include identifying catalysts
that will break one specific
bond selectively.”
Additional information can
be found in a recently published
paper2 or by contacting Sykes at
charles.sykes@tufts.edu.
REFERENCES
1. Canter, N. (2017), “New
approach to functionalize
aromatic hydrocarbons,” TLT,
73 (10), pp. 14-16.
2. Marcinkowski, M., Darby, M.,
Liu, J., Wimble, J., Lucci, F.,
Lee, S., Michaelides, A.,
Stephanopoulos, M., Stamata-
kis, M. and Sykes, E. (2018),
“PtCu single-atom alloys as
coke-resistant catalysts for
efficient C-H activation,”
Nature Chemistry, 10, pp.
325-332.
APRIL 2018 • 15
TECH BEAT
Hydrogen generation using
a ruthenium-based catalyst
Introduction of graphene into the ruthenium-carbon
nitride nanocomposite produced a sandwich
structure that facilitated the splitting of water.
While a good deal of attention
is being paid to the development
of battery technology, research
is still continuing to find ap-
proaches for more effectively
KEY CONCEPTS
manufacturing hydrogen, which
A new graphene-carbon- can be used in fuel cells to gen-
nitride-ruthenium erate electricity. An example of
nanocomposite showed how fuel cell technology is be-
promise in splitting ing commercialized is the recent
water into hydrogen announcement by Shell and ITM
and oxygen. Power that the world’s largest
polymer electrolyte membrane
Favorable conditions hydrogen electrolysis plant will
for proton absorption be built at Shell’s Rheinland Re-
and reduction were finery in Germany with a capac-
established through ity of 10 megawatts.1 The plant
complexing between is due to become operational in
ruthenium metal ions 2020.
and pyridinic nitrogens In a previous TLT article, a
in carbon nitride. photoelectrochemical process
was developed that can produce
The new catalyst also
hydrogen at over 100% quantum
exhibited reduced
efficiency.2 The researchers used
charge-transfer
a technique called multiple exci-
resistance and an
ton generation that enables the
increased number of
energy of one photon to be con-
catalytic active sites.
verted into multiple electrons.
16 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
Currently platinum-based
catalysts on carbon supports are
favored for splitting water into
hydrogen and oxygen, but wide
use of this catalyst type commer-
cially will probably not occur due
to the high cost and low supply of
platinum. Shaowei Chen, faculty
director for COSMOS and profes-
sor in the department of chem-
istry and biochemistry at the
University of California at Santa
Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif., says,
“Thermodynamically, protons
can be reduced at the potential
of 0 volt to produce hydrogen,
but the kinetics of the process
are slow. Catalysts are required
to facilitate the reaction.”
Chen indicates that an over-
potential needs to be applied to
enable catalysts to split water
into hydrogen and oxygen. He
says, “Platinum exhibits the
best performance so far with
an overpotential between -30
and -40 millivolts to reach the
current density of 10.0 milli-
A current density
of 10 milliamps
per square cen-
timeter was
achieved at an
overpotential of
only -80 millivolts.
amps per square centimeter.
Non-platinum-based catalysts
exhibit overpotentials that are
typically over -100 millivolts. To
obtain a negative overpotential,
< -100 millivolts would be re-
markable.”
In a recently published
study, Chen and his colleagues
found that embedding ruthe-
nium ions in carbon nitride
nanosheets led to the formation
of a catalyst that was active in
© Can Stock Photo / ngad
producing hydrogen.3 He says,
“We took advantage of the fact
that the nitrogen atoms present
in carbon nitride act in a simi-
lar manner to pyridine, which
WWW.STLE.ORG
is a good coordination agent
for metal ions. The ruthenium
atoms form a nanocomposite
with carbon nitride leading to
enhanced catalytic activity. At
an overpotential of -140 milli-
volts, the ruthenium-carbon ni-
tride nanocomposite generated
a current density of 10.0 milli-
amps per square centimeter.”
Chen and his researchers
have now modified the ruthe-
nium-carbon nitride nanocom-
posite to further improve its
performance in splitting water.
Graphene
Improved catalytic performance
was realized by adding graphene
to the ruthenium-carbon nitride
complex. Chen says, “Electro-
chemical measurements of this
new complex with graphene pro-
duced a current density of 10.0
milliamps per square centimeter
at an overpotential of only -80
millivolts, which is an upgrade
in performance.”
Based on analysis by the re-
searchers, the graphene-carbon
nitride-ruthenium nanocompos-
ite catalyst exhibited about 80%
of the performance of the cur-
rent platinum/carbon catalyst
and was six times better than
the ruthenium-carbon nitride
nanocomposite.
The graphene-carbon ni-
tride-ruthenium nanocompos-
ite was prepared by blending
carbon nitride nanosheets with
reduced graphene oxide and re-
acting these two materials with
ruthenium chloride in water.
Atomic force microscopy analy-
sis showed that the compos-
ite consists of sandwich-type
structures with a thickness of
6.3 nanometers.
Chen says, “The sandwich
structure was probably an indi-
cation of a strong π−π interac-
tion between the carbon nitride
and the graphene nanosheets
inducing greater charge re-
WWW.STLE.ORG
Chen will be evaluating
other low-carbon materials
besides carbon nitride for their
effectiveness in producing hy-
drogen in the future. He says,
“We found that the conductivity
of carbon nitride was not that
good because this material is a
semi-conductor. There are other
low carbon materials that we
intend to evaluate with metal
ions such as cobalt, copper and
nickel to determine if the result-
ing complexes are any more ef-
fective in splitting water.”
Additional information on
this research can be found in a
recent article4 or by contacting
Chen at shaowei@ucsc.edu.
Neil Canter heads his own
consulting company, Chemical
Solutions, in Willow Grove, Pa.
1/2018 Ideas for Tech Beat can
Front Cover:
Peng et al. A Journal of
be submitted to him at
Ruthenium Ion-Complexed Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets
Supported on Reduced Graphene Oxide as High-Performance Catalysts neilcanter@comcast.net.
for Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution
www.chemsuschem.org
REFERENCES
Figure 3. This cover image from the journal ChemSusChem is based on 1. Please go to the following link:
http://royaldutchshellgroup.
the ancient Chinese legend of Niulang and Zhinu and shows them meeting
on a bridge consisting of the newly developed composite nanocatalyst that com/2017/09/01/shell-to-
effectively splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. (Figure courtesy of the build-worlds-largest-hydro-
University of California at Santa Cruz.) gen-plant-of-its-kind-in-ger-
many/.
2. Canter, N. (2017), “Photoelec-
trochemical generation of
hydrogen over 100% quantum
distribution that facilitated the measured hydrogen generation efficiency,” TLT, 73 (8), pp.
splitting of water. Complexing as a function of the current de- 12-13.
between the ruthenium metal tected. There is a direct relation-
3. Peng, Y., Lu, B., Chen, L., Wang,
ions and the pyridinic nitrogens ship between current density N., Lu, J., Ping, Y. and Chen, S.
in carbon nitride established and reaction rate.” (2017), “Hydrogen evolution
favorable conditions for proton Figure 3, which is taken reaction catalyzed by
absorption and reduction. Other from the cover of a journal that ruthenium ion-complexed
graphitic carbon nitride
favorable characteristics we published the research, Chem-
nanosheets,” J. Mater. Chem.
attribute to this catalyst were SusChem, was designed by A, 5 (34), pp. 18261-18269.
reduced charge-transfer resis- Chen’s co-author, Yi Peng. The
4. Peng. Y., Pan, W., Wang, N., Lu,
tance and an increased number image was based on the ancient J. and Chen, S. (2018),
of catalytic active sites.” Chinese legend of Niulang and “Ruthenium Ion-Complexed
In running the experiments, Zhinu. The two characters are Graphitic Carbon Nitride
the researchers loaded the cat- shown meeting on a bridge con- Nanosheets Supported on
Reduced Graphene Oxide as
alyst on a glassy carbon elec- sisting of the graphene-carbon
High-Performance Catalysts
trode and negatively charged nitride-ruthenium composite for Electrochemical Hydrogen
the potential to quantify hydro- nanocatalyst and shows the Evolution,” ChemSusChem, 11
gen evolution. Chen says, “We formation of hydrogen. (1), pp. 130-136.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 17
MARKET TRENDS
Flat sales forecasted for global
industrial oils and grease
KEY CONCEPTS
The global demand for
general industrial oils and
grease was 6,400 kilotonnes
in 2017.
The market is fragmented
with no industry accounting
for more than 15% of total
consumption.
Growth in the usage of
synthetics is the most
prominent industry trend.
18 • APRIL 2018
Growth opportunities will come from synthetics,
OEM tie-ups and value-added services.
By Kunal Mahajan
Kline & Co.
General industrial oil and grease products
are essential for the smooth operation of various
equipment found in any manufacturing facility
and, as a result, are used extensively in several
industries. These lubricants are used in various
equipment to protect them against wear, fric-
tion, heat, corrosion and contaminants. General
industrial oils and grease include six types of
lubricants: hydraulic fluids, industrial gear oils,
turbine and circulating oils, compressor and re-
frigeration oils and industrial grease.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
© Can Stock Photo / kadmy
Market overview
The global demand for general industrial oils
and grease was about 6,400 kilotonnes in 2017.
This translates to approximately 16% of the total
lubricant demand, including automotive lubri-
cants as well as other industrial lubricants.
Hydraulic fluids, with more than a 50%
share, lead the market for general industrial oils
and grease. They are used to operate common
equipment such as die casting, metal rolling and
hydraulic pumps and motors, which are seen in
WWW.STLE.ORG

many manufacturing facilities.
This makes hydraulic fluids the
most consumed general indus-
trial oil globally. It is followed
by industrial gear oil, turbine
and circulating oil and grease,
with each accounting for about
10%-15% of the general indus-
trial and grease demand. The
remaining market is accounted
for by compressor oil and re-
frigeration oil (see Figure 1).
Asia is the largest market,
accounting for more than 40%
share in the total consumption
of general industrial oils and
grease. Asia leads the world in
mining, primary metals, trans-
port equipment manufactur-
ing, power generation and gen-
eral manufacturing industries,
which are the major consum-
ers of general industrial oils
and grease. Asia is followed
by North America and Eu-
rope, each having a more than
20% share in the consumption
of general industrial oils and
grease. The remaining mar-
ket is accounted for by South
America, Africa and the Middle
East.
Regional markets can be
classified into two categories:
developed markets and devel-
oping markets. Developed mar-
kets include North America and
Europe, while developing mar-
kets include the Asia-Pacific re-
gion, South America and Africa
and the Middle East. There are
two major differences between
developed markets and devel-
oping markets.
First, developed markets
have much higher usage of
better quality lubricants, such
as synthetic lubricants, com-
pared with developing mar-
kets. For example, the share of
synthetics in overall consump-
tion of general industrial oils
and grease is more than 15%
in North America and Europe.
The corresponding share in the
WWW.STLE.ORG
Customers are looking for value-added services
such as recycling or fluid-management practices.
Asia-Pacific region is 10% and
even lower in South America,
Africa and Middle East.
Second, there are differenc-
es in the purchasing practices
of end-users. For example, end-
users in developing markets are
more price sensitive than end-
users in developed markets.
Furthermore, in North Ameri-
Figure 1. Global general industrial oil and grease demand by product, 2017.
Figure 2. Global general industrial oil and grease demand by region, 2017.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
ca, end-users prefer suppliers
who offer value-added services
such as chemical management
services, while value-added
services might not be a crucial
factor in Asia with all customers
(see Figure 2).
In terms of industries, de-
mand for general industrial
oils and grease is fragmented,
with no industry accounting
for more than 15% of total
consumption. General manu-
facturing, primary metals, min-
ing, transportation-equipment
manufacturing and power
generation are the five largest
industries consuming general
industrial oils and grease. Other
industries, such as chemicals,
oil and gas, cement and off-
highway transportation, have
small but significant consump-
tion of general industrial oils
and grease.
Lubricant consumption
patterns vary by industry. For
example, turbine and circulat-
ing oils are the most important
lubricant for power generation,
accounting for more than 45%
share in the total consump-
tion of general industrial oils
and grease in this industry.
Hydraulic fluids are the lead-
ing lubricant product for min-
ing, primary metals, general
manufacturing and transport-
equipment manufacturing, ac-
counting for about 45%-80% of
the total consumption in these
industries. Similarly, compres-
sor and refrigeration fluids are
more important for the food and
beverage and electrical equip-
ment manufacturing industries.
In terms of supply, the mar-
ket is fragmented, with only
two suppliers—Shell and Exx-
onMobil—having more than
10% market share each in the
global market. Furthermore,
the top 10 suppliers account
for only a little more than a
50% share in the global mar-
ket. Other important suppliers
in the market are Chevron, BP,
Sinopec, Total, PetroChina,
Petrobras and Lukoil.
Generally, developing mar-
kets are less fragmented than
developed markets, with the
top 10 suppliers accounting
for more than two-thirds of
the market in the Asia-Pacific
APRIL 2018 • 19
Q MARKET TRENDS

region, South America, Africa
and the Middle East. In con-
trast, in a developed market
like North America, the top 10
suppliers control less than 50%
of the market. The high level
of consolidation in developing
markets is because of the pres-
ence of national oil companies.
For example, IOCL, HPCL and
BPCL lead in India; Sinopec and
PetroChina in China; Petrobras
and Ipiranga in Brazil; Engen in
South Africa; and Petromin in
Saudi Arabia.
Market trends
General industrial oils and
greases are impacted by prod-
uct trends that operate across
all industries as well as by
trends specific to each industry.
There are three key prod-
uct trends common to all in-
dustries:
1. increasing usage of high-
performance lubricants,
such as synthetics
2. modernization of equip-
ment across industries,
which in turn drives usage
of higher quality lubricants
3. increasing adoption of
recycling or fluid-manage-
ment practices.
These trends are expected
to have an adverse impact on
the volume growth for general
industrial oils and grease across
all industries globally but might
not impact value growth.
Currently growth in the us-
age of synthetics is the most
prominent trend in the industry.
It is driven by various factors
such as increasingly ex-
treme operating condi-
tions, safety consid-
erations, equipment
modernization and
OEM recommen-
dations and the
reservoirs. Due to the reduction
in fluid volume with respect to
pump flow rate, the time avail-
able for the fluid to cool and for
entrapped air to escape has re-
duced. Moreover, such systems
experience high temperature
and pressure. Under such ex-
treme conditions, mineral oil-
based products tend to break
down, resulting in the precipita-
tion of contaminants. Therefore,
end-users are moving toward
synthetics with longer drain in-
tervals that can operate under
such extreme conditions.
Penetration of synthetic
products is higher for com-
pressor and refrigeration oils
compared to other general
industrial oils, mainly due to
OEM recommendations. In the
case of compressor oils, OEMs
provide extended warranty for
compressors for 6-10 years
or provide total maintenance
service for a fee. As a result,
customers use synthetic com-
pressor oils for the warranty pe-
riod. Many customers, having
realized the cost-performance
benefit of synthetics, continue
to use these products in out-of-
Group III base stocks in a lim-
ited fashion to formulate these
lubricants. This trend also is
expected to have an adverse
impact on growth in the volume
demand for general industrial
oils and grease, as the lubri-
cants formulated using Group
II and Group III base stocks are
expected to have longer drain
intervals.
Industry trends only af-
fect an industry or region and,
thus, vary from one industry to
another or from one region to
another. For example, in min-
ing, coal mining is declining
as power generation shifts to-
ward natural gas and as excess
capacity for primary metals
manufacturing, including steel
manufacturing, is shut down,
especially in China. Since coal
mining accounts for the major
part of the mining industry, any
decline in coal mining will have
a negative impact on general in-
dustrial oil and grease demand
in the industry. Similarly, as ex-
cess capacity for primary met-
als manufacturing is shut down,
the demand for general indus-
trial oils and grease is expected

© Can Stock Photo / Harlekino

appreciation of
the benefits of us-
ing synthetics in
certain situations
by end-users. For
example, in the wind
power industry, espe-
cially off-shore wind
turbines, there is a need
to increase the reliability of
the gearbox as well as increase
drain intervals to overcome the
difficulty in accessing the tur-
bines due to poor weather con-
The Asia-Pacific ditions or their remote location.
region will remain As a result, the usage of synthet-
the largest ics is growing in this industry.
Equipment modernization
consumer of
also is leading to increased us-
general industrial age of synthetics. For example,
oils and grease new hydraulic equipment com-
through 2021. ing in the market have smaller
warranty compressors.
Customers across in-
dustries also are looking for
value-added services such as
recycling or fluid-management
practices, as it helps in extend-
ing the drain interval, therefore
reducing the demand for lubri-
cant. Currently customers in
developed markets are more
open to using such services.
There also is increased us-
age of Group II base stocks to
formulate general industrial
oils and grease, especially in
North America. Lubricant sup-
pliers in the Asia-Pacific region
also have started using Group
II base stocks to formulate
these lubricants. Moreover, in
North America lubricant sup-
pliers also have started using
to decline in this industry.
Another example of an
emerging industry trend is the
expected growth in demand
for new aircrafts as air traffic
grows, leading to increased
demand for general industrial
oils in both the off-highway
transportation industry and
the transportation equipment
manufacturing industry. Air
traffic is expected to increase,
mainly driven by China and
India, where passenger traffic
is expected to grow at an aver-
age rate of 10% and 20% per
year, respectively. Similarly, in
the general manufacturing in-
dustry, manufacturing activity
is moving back to the U.S. due
to several factors. This will sup-
port growth in demand

20 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

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Q MARKET TRENDS
of general industrial oils and
grease in the U.S. At the same
time, increase in the usage of
new processes, such as high-
speed cutting, laser cutting and
electrical discharge machining,
is expected to lead to a decline
in lubricant demand in the gen-
eral manufacturing industry.
Outlook
The forecast for the general in-
dustrial oils and grease demand
depends on five key factors:
1. global economic growth
2. performance of various
industries
3. equipment moderniza-
tion and adoption of new
technologies
4. lubrication practices such
as increased usage of better
quality lubricants and auto-
matic lubrication methods,
especially for grease
5. increased adoption of
value-added services such
as recycling or fluid-man-
agement services.
All the factors, with the
exception of global economic
growth and the positive per-
formance of some industries,
will have a negative impact on
demand for general industrial
oils and grease. As a result, de-
mand for general industrial oils
is expected to be essentially flat
with growth of 0.2% until 2021
(see Figure 3).
Refrigeration oils and tur-
bine and circulating oils are
expected to be the two fastest-
growing general industrial oils.
Demand for refrigeration oils
will grow, mainly as the pro-
duction of intelligent air con-
ditioner and refrigerators that
consume less oil and electricity
is expected to boom in China.
Second, in Europe use of
air-conditioning and refrigera-
22 • APRIL 2018
2.0% clines in the U.S. as end-users
increasingly adopt better qual-
ity oils and fluid-management
services. However, reshoring
CAGR, %
to the U.S. is expected to nullify
0.0%
this decline to some extent.
Conclusion
The general industrial oils and
-2.0% grease market seems a stable
market, offering little growth
il
se
oi
oi
oi
id
ro
ea
flu
or
n
ea
opportunities; however, this is
tin
tio
Gr
s
lic
es
lg
ra
la
au
pr
cu
ia
ge
not so if the market is seen as a
tr
dr
m
cir
fri
us
Co
Hy
Re
d
d
an
combination of different prod-
In
ne
bi
ucts, regions and industries. For
r
Tu
example, demand for general
Figure 3. Forecast annual growth rates of general industrial oils and industrial oils and grease is ex-
grease, 2017 to 2021.
pected to decline in the primary
metals industry; however, it is
tion systems for both residen- industrial oils and grease are ex- mainly due to a decline in a few
tial and commercial purposes pected to grow at a much faster country markets such as China.
is growing, leading to increased rate due to the trends discussed Markets such as India are ex-
demand for refrigeration oils. earlier. However, mineral oil- pected to show growth in de-
Turbine and circulating oils based lubricants will continue mand for this industry.
demand is expected to grow, to dominate this industry for the Furthermore, there are
as demand for electricity grows foreseeable future. three strong trends seen in this
around the world, especially in In terms of regions, South market, and suppliers who are
developing regions. All other America, Africa and the Middle positioned to take advantage of
general industrial oils, such as East are expected to grow the them can gain a strong position
hydraulic fluids, industrial gear fastest but from a low base. in this market. These trends in-
oils and compressor oils, also Major economies, such as Bra- clude growth in synthetics con-
are expected to witness minor zil in South America and Saudi sumption, equipment modern-
growth. However, demand for Arabia in the Middle East, are ization and increased adoption
grease is expected to decline, expected to drive this growth. of value-added services such as
as demand from primary met- Brazil is currently recovering recycling or fluid-management
als and mining, two of the larg- from the recession it faced in practices. Suppliers who have
est grease consuming indus- 2015 and 2016, which will lead a well-established synthetics
tries, decline. Increasing use to growth in demand for gen- product portfolio, have close
of better quality greases and eral industrial oils and grease tie-ups with OEMs to develop
better greasing techniques to in the future. Saudi Arabia is in- oils that are compatible with
prevent over-greasing also is vesting to develop manufactur- the new equipment and offer
expected to lead to a decline in ing industries, which will lead to fluid-management services,
grease demand globally. higher lubricants consumption. will have an advantage.
Moreover, mineral oil-based Demand is expected to de-
lubricants for all general indus- cline in the Asia-Pacific region Kunal Mahajan is a project
trial oils and grease are expect- as it declines in China and Ja- manager at Kline & Co. in the
ed to either decline or show mi- pan. However, other countries Energy practice. You can reach
nor growth. Decline is expected in the region are expected to him at Kunal.Mahajan@
for compressor and refrigeration show growth. Furthermore, the KlineGroup.com. Kline is an
oils and grease, while hydraulic Asia-Pacific region will remain international provider of world-
fluids, industrial gear oils and the largest consumer of general class consulting services and
turbine and circulating oils are industrial oils and grease during high-quality market intelligence
expected to show negligible the forecast period. Demand for industries including lubri-
growth. On the other hand, syn- also is expected to decline in cants and chemicals. Learn more
thetic lubricants for all general North America, as demand de- at www.klinegroup.com.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG
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20 MINUTES WITH...

Anirudha V. Sumant
By Rachel Fowler
Managing Editor
This materials scientist with Argonne National
Laboratory develops energy-efficient systems
based on novel carbon materials.

Dr. Anirudha Sumant Dr. Anirudha Sumant is a materials scientist for
The Quick File: the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne
National Laboratory. He received his doctorate
degree in electronic science from University of
Pune, India, in 1998. He was a post-doctoral fellow
at Argonne National Laboratory from 1998-2001.
After spending a couple of years in the start-up
industry, he joined University of Wisconsin-Madi-
son in 2003 and held the staff scientist position
until 2006. He then joined the Center for Na-
noscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory
in 2006; since then he has lead the research on
nanocarbon materials including CVD diamond,
carbon nanotube and graphene.
Sumant has more than 22 years of research
experience in the synthesis, characterization and
developing applications of carbon-based materials.
His main research interests include electronic,
mechanical and tribological properties of carbon-
based materials, surface chemistry, micro/
nanoscale tribology and micro-nanofabrication.
Sumant is the author and co-author of more
than 120 peer-reviewed journal publications and
two book chapters. He is the winner of four R&D
100 awards, the NASA Tech Brief Magazine
Award, Pinnacle of Education Award from the
Board of Governors by UChicago Argonne, LLC
and two TechConnect National Innovation Awards.
He has 21 patents granted with 23 pending and
has given numerous invited talks. His research in
diamond materials helped in the formation of
several start-up companies including NCD
Technologies and AKHAN Semiconductor, Inc.
Recently one of his inventions was licensed by
United Scientific Supplies, Inc., in creating a STEM
education product called the NextGen STEM Kit
specially designed for high school students. He is
a member of STLE, the Materials Research Society
and Science and Technology of Materials,
Interfaces, and Processing (AVS).

TLT: Why is Argonne
interested in
diamond-based coatings?
Sumant: Argonne has a long
history of more than two de-
cades of continuing cutting-
edge research related to novel
carbon materials, particularly on
ultrananocrystalline diamond
(UNCD). This goes back to 1998
when I was a post-doc working
on tribological properties of
UNCD coatings for mechani-
cal shaft seal applications. This
project was in collaboration with
STLE’s Immediate Past Presi-
dent Dr. Ali Erdemir at Argonne,
and we helped in developing a
new technology in reducing
friction and wear in SiC-based
mechanical shaft seals. Later
this technology was further de-
veloped and commercialized by
Argonne’s spinoff company, Ad-
vanced Diamond Technologies
(ADT), Inc. The UNCD-coated
shaft seals from ADT are in the
market from the last 10 years as
a product.
Argonne is well known for
cutting-edge research on ma-
terials, whether it is related to
carbon materials or battery ma-
terials or discovering new ma-
terials through a state-of-the-
art advanced photon source. In
2006, with the opening of the
Center for Nanoscale Materials
at Argonne as one of the nano-
science centers established
by the Department of Energy
(DOE), the research on carbon
materials was recognized as
one of the theme areas that I
currently lead.
In the last 11 years in my
group, we have not only devel-
oped several new technologies
based on UNCD—which are
on the way of commercializa-
tion, and some of them are
commercialized—but also de-
veloped new areas of research
in graphene and other 2D ma-
terials, which has now become
a central part of my research
activities. Argonne and DOE
have been very supportive of
our programs on novel carbon
materials because of not only
groundbreaking research on
the fundamental level but also
taking that research to the next
level by working with industry
and translating that into the
product in the U.S. market and
helping the U.S. economy.

24 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

TLT: What are the
goals of your current
leading program on
nanocrystalline carbon
materials?

Sumant: The central theme of

my research work at Argonne
is on developing energy effi-
cient systems based on novel
carbon materials. This includes
fundamental studies on under-
standing electronic properties
of hybrid carbon materials
and developing microelectro-
mechanical systems/nano-
electromechanical systems
(MEMS/NEMS) and electronic
devices with superior device
performance. It also includes
fundamental studies on the
tribological properties of car-
bon materials and developing
next generation of oil-free solid
lubricants based on graphene
and other 2D materials. The
aim is to reduce hazardous
waste in the environment and
significantly improve reducing
wear/friction at a lower cost.
TLT: What are the potential
applications of this work?
Sumant: For the ultranano-
crystalline diamond, we have
been working with the industry
in developing the next gen-
eration of field emission-based
electron sources to be used for
electron accelerators, hand-held
X-ray guns for medical diagno-
sis or security screening. In the
MEMS area, we have developed
advanced RF-MEMS switches
based on diamond that are ul-
trafast with less noise and can
operate at higher frequency in
harsh environmental conditions.
For our work on graphene, we
have shown that it is the next
emerging solid lubricant with
fundamentally different wear/
friction mechanisms than that
of thin film or bulk materials.
The current research work on
superlubricity is now progressed
from fundamental research into
two major DOE programs with
industry partners with the goal
to develop real-world products
in the mechanical seal industry
as well as in the automotive in-
dustry.
TLT: Which part of this
work brings you the most
difficulties?
Sumant: I generally enjoy all
aspects of my research work
and any form of difficulties
that come along with it. If I
have to pinpoint some part that
requires more of my time and
efforts, that would be taking
discoveries from the lab bench
and translating them into real-
world products by working with
the industry. Being at a national
lab, our mission is not only to
carry out breakthrough funda-
mental research work but also
taking those discoveries to the
next phase by working collab-
Anirudha Sumant with the new
multifunctional tribometer
examining wear/friction
properties of solid lubricants in the
newly established superlubricity
laboratory at the Center for
Nanoscale Materials at Argonne
National Laboratory.
(Photo courtesy of Argonne
National Laboratory.)
oratively with the industry and
helping them to come up with
a product.
The best examples are ultra-
nanocrystalline diamond-coat-
ed mechanical shaft seals that
are in the market by Argonne’s
spin-off company ADT and the
NextGen STEM Kit, a nanotech-
nology educational kit based on
ultrananocrystalline diamond
specially designed for teach-
ing nanotechnology to high
school students. This product
is developed by United Scien-
tific Supplies, Inc., by working
collaboratively with Argonne.
EuclidTech Lab has developed
a plug-and-play field emission
electron source based on UNCD
for accelerator applications and
will be in the market soon.
TLT: What current projects
are you interested in?
Sumant: Apart from various
research projects on diamond,
my current research activity is
focused on further understand-
ing macroscale superlubricity
based on graphene and other
2D materials. We have estab-
lished a research program on
superlubricity at the Center
for Nanoscale Materials at Ar-
gonne. Under this program we
have recently acquired a mul-
tifunctional tribometer from
Rtec Instruments, Inc., which
has several unique capabilities
such as the ability to carry out
wear/friction studies in high-
vacuum, high temperatures and
in controlled atmospheres with
integrated confocal Raman
spectroscopy and 3D confocal
profilometry. These features

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 25

Q 20 MINUTES WITH...

will allow us to investigate tri- scientist. Graduate students

bochemical modifications oc- working in related areas can
curring within a wear track as a work directly with Argonne
function of various tribological scientists by submitting user
conditions. This facility will be proposals at the Center for Na-
open to outside users later this noscale Materials.
year. We have arranged a spe- At the post-doctoral level,
cial symposium on superlubric- there are competitive post-
ity in May 2018 during our an- doctoral fellowships such as the
nual users meeting with various Director’s Fellowship or Named
experts coming from different Fellowship, which are very
parts of the world and present- prestigious fellowships. Apart
ing their work on superlubricity. from those, there are several
This symposium also will offer divisional post-doctoral fellow-
Anirudha Sumant loading a silicon wafer to synthesize ultrananocrystal-
a visit to our superlubricity lab line diamond thin film in the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition ships that are available based
and more details on the multi- (MPCVD) system located in the clean room at the Center for Nanoscale on various ongoing projects at
functional tribometer. Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy of Argonne Argonne. These post-doctoral
National Laboratory.) positions can be accessed by
TLT: Can young tribologists visiting Argonne’s career page
join you in this program? at www.anl.gov/careers.
young researchers an opportu- gram for undergraduates is an
Sumant: Absolutely. Argonne nity to work at various stages. excellent program that allows You can reach Dr. Anirudha
has several programs that offer The summer internship pro- them to work with an Argonne Sumant at sumant@anl.gov.

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VOLUNTEERS

STLE says thanks to its volunteers

These individuals make our society—and our industry—function and grow.

National Volunteer Week (April 15-22) is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek
out imaginative ways to engage with their communities. In honor of this week, STLE recognizes the
time, talent and contributions made by our volunteers. They are what allow us to grow and nurture
our industry, foster new talent and grow the society as a whole. STLE gives our sincere thanks to the
individuals listed below, who serve on our committees, industry councils and local sections.

Ghassan Abed Elizabeth Bennett John Burke Greg Croce

Oakland University Ivanhoe Industries Inc. Houghton International Inc. Chevron Products Co.
Elaine Anderson Diana Berman David Burris Wei Dai
Palmer Holland Inc. University of North Texas University of Delaware TAMU
Michael Anderson Ron Bertoldi Richard Butler Robert Davidson
Falex Corp. Sea-Land Chemical Co. Afton Chemical Corp.
Jerry Byers
James Arner Lynn Billings Mike Deckert
David Byun
Pirr Tribology Solutions Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc. Flo Components Ltd
CALS Corp.
Ankur Ashtekar Girma Biresaw Christopher DellaCorte
USDA/ARS/NCAUR Jeffrey Calk NASA
Sentient Science Corp.
Lubrication Engineers Inc.
Pranesh Aswath Micheal Blackmon Bennie Denton
Shell Lubricants Adrian Campos Retired/Citgo Petroleum Corp.
University of Texas at Arlington
Universidad de Monterrey
Robert Austin John Bomidi Scott Deskin
Baker Hughes Neil Canter Chevron
QualiChem Inc.
Chemical Solutions
Sujay Bagi Russell Boone Mark Devlin
Paccar Inc. Phillips 66 Co. Joseph Cepec Afton Chemical Corp.
Allegheny Petroleum James Dickey
Mark Bair E. Richard Booser
Products Co.
Voith Turbo Inc. Consulting Engineer William Downs
Bulent Chavdar Cimcool Fluid Technologies
Vasilios Bakolas Steffen Bots
Eaton Corp.
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Oelcheck GmbH Peter Drechsler
Co. KG Paul Cigala
Michelle Brakke Allison Dries
Lube-Tech ExxonMobil Fuel & Lubricants
Rob Banas Caterpillar, Inc.
ExxonMobil Donovan Bresko Charles Coe
Paul Dufresne
Suncor Energy Grease Technology Solutions, LLC
Grigor Bantchev Georgia-Pacific, LLC
USDA/ARS/NCAUR Matthew Brouwer Donald Cohen Michael Duncan
Williams International Michigan Metrology Daubert Chemical Co. Inc.
Ewa Bardasz
ZUAL Associates in Robert Bruce Bryan Cooper Marianne Duncanson
Lubrication LLC GE Aircraft Engines Fluid Life ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants
Edward Becker Michael Bruner Craig Cooper Alison Dunn
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 The 2017-2018 STLE Board of Directors.

Jamie Elliott Robin Fulk Hannes Grillenberger Robert Heverly

Chemroy Canada Inc. Polaris Laboratories LLC Schaeffler Technologies AG & John Hogan
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Petro-Canada America Lubri-
Benjamin Faber Gerald Hawk Travis Howry
cants, Inc.
The Lubrizol Corp. Allegheny Petroleum Buckley Oil Co.
Ricardo Gomes Products Co.
Aurelian Fatu Evonik Oil Additives USA, Inc. Maureen Hunter
Université de Poitiers Xingliang He King Industries, Inc.
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Université de Poitiers Leslie Heerdt Phillips 66 Co.
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Q VOLUNTEERS

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Houghton International Inc. Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc.
Neil Jasinski Helen Ngo
Kelley Williamson Co. USDA/ARS/ERRC
Duval Johnson John Nussbaumer
University of California, Merced Dover Chemical Corp.
Thomas Karis Thomas O’Brien
TEK Data Systems Volunteers shared their knowledge with Atlanta The Lubrizol Corp.
high school students at STLE’s 2017 STEM Camp.
Michael Kasbek Thomas Oleksiak
Phillips 66 Co. Novelis Global Research
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ADINLUBE
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Giovanni Ramirez Brajendra Sharma BECOME A VOLUNTEER
Bruker Nano Surfaces University of Illinois at
Richard Rapp Urbana-Champaign Membership in STLE opens up a host of diverse volunteer
Charles Sheppard opportunities to you. Each administrative and technical
Scott Rappaport committee, local section, task force and work group plays
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an integral part in advancing the profession and the
Lucas Rawding Paul Shiller organization. Throughout the year, STLE will send out a
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Dennis Ray
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Hy-Pro Filtration
a current STLE member. STLE has a variety of
Kevin Ray Walter Sloan
opportunities to volunteer that range from micro- (short
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term/adhoc activities) to multi-year commitments, each
Salvatore Rea Richard Smith making an impact within the organization.
LANXESS Corp. Metalworking Lubricants Co. We thank all of STLE’s volunteers for their time and
Donald Smolenski efforts. For more information about STLE’s volunteer
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Strategic Management of Oil, LLC program and opportunities, email Alicia Skulemowski at
CNRS
askulemowski@stle.org or call (847) 825-5536.
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Southampton)
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Retired Yang Xu
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University of North Texas
Lubrication Engineers Inc. Chinpei Wang Lubrication Consultant
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Allison Toms Cummins, Inc. Brian Zander
Retired from ExxonMobil
Lubricants & Specialties GasTOPS Inc. Nicole Webb The Lubrizol Corp.
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Lawrence Technological The Timken Co. Martin Webster Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.
University David Turner ExxonMobil Research & Engi-
neering Hongmei Zhao
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The Lubrizol Corp.
Tribological Services William Tuszynski Larry Wegman
The Unami Group Caterpillar, Inc. Min Zou
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University of Florida Charles West University of Arkansas
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Randy Sebastian University of Sarah Woods Qian Zou
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SCHOLARSHIP RESEARCH

Tribological Behavior and Mechanisms of

Cold Sprayed Ni and Ni-WC Composite Coatings
Tyler Torgerson
Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA

Editor’s Note: This month TLT profiles the 2017 recipient of The E. Richard Booser Scholarship
Award, Tyler Torgerson (University of North Texas). The Booser scholarship is awarded annually to
undergraduate students who have an interest in pursuing a career in tribology. As a requirement for
receiving an STLE scholarship, students are given the opportunity to participate in a tribology research
project and to submit a report summarizing their research. For more information about the Booser
scholarship, visit www.stle.org.
Tyler Torgerson is a first-year master’s student at the University of North Texas (UNT). He plans to
graduate this summer from the Materials Science and Engineering (MTSE) program with a research
background in tribology. His research for the project was conducted in STLE-member Dr. Thomas
Scharf’s Lab for Moving Mechanical Assemblies. As part of Torgerson’s extracurricular activities,
he is the North Texas STLE chapter president and vice president of the MTSE graduate student
Tyler Torgerson council. Some of his hobbies include reading, playing the guitar and traveling. Torgerson’s goal after
graduating is to work in the aerospace industry, designing next-generation tribological materials and
coatings. You can reach him at TylerTorgerson@my.unt.edu.

1. INTRODUCTION
Cold-spray (CS) processing uti-
lizes the benefits of solid pow-
der particles accelerations to
velocities between 300 and 1200
m/s to acquire enough kinetic
energy that results in plastic
deformation and adhesion to
the surface upon impact [1-2].
The resulting strong particle/
substrate and particle/particle
cohesion leads to the formation
of a well adhered coating on the
surface. Because CS relies on
kinetic energy, the processing
temperature is significantly low-
er than the melting point of the
powders, which helps to avoid
adverse effects such as tensile
residual stress, oxidation, phase
changes, and potential chemical
reactions, which are prevalent
in coating techniques relying on
a higher substrate temperature
[1-3]. Robust cold spray coat-
ings are shown to provide excel-
lent wear resistance for parts in
sliding, rolling, and reciprocat-
ing motion, thereby improv-
ing the engineering lifespan of
various components, especially
those found in the automotive
and aerospace industries [3,6].
Emergent research in CS
produced metal matrix com-
posites (MMC) reinforced with
ceramic particles (e.g. oxides,
carbides, nitrides, etc.) aims to
improve the wear resistance of
such coatings for use in dry slid-
ing applications, while avoiding
formation of brittle intermetallic
phases, which can adversely af-
fect their tribological properties
[4,7-11]. The addition of hard
particles also improves coating
cohesion efficiency by creating
micro-asperities that promote
bonding, lowering porosity and
increasing density of the CS
coatings [1,4-5]. The tribologi-
cal properties of CS produced
MMCs can be tuned by adjust-
ing a number of processing
parameters such as gas tem-
perature, particle velocity, sub-
strate material, etc., and more
importantly, by controlling the
amount of wear resistant ce-
ramic particles that are mixed
with the binding metal matrix
[4]. WC particles are common
reinforcing particles in MMCs
due to their high hardness and
mechanical strength. They are
often used in a combination with
Ni as a metallic binder and such
Ni-WC composites were shown
to be effective at reducing wear
[7-10]. Van Acker et al. [8] stud-
ied the effect of WC particle size
and volume fraction on the slid-
ing wear behavior of laser clad
Ni-WC coatings. The wear rate
was found to decrease logarith-
mically with the addition of WC
particles. Xu et al. [9] showed
that the addition of more than 40
wt.% WC in the feedstock led to
a decrease in wear rate of laser
cladded WC/Ni coatings and fa-
cilitated a change in wear from
two-body abrasive to third-body
abrasive and fatigue wear.
Previous studies on the dry
sliding properties of nickel-
based coatings at room tem-
perature revealed the forma-
tion of mechanically mixed
layers (MML) that was created
from the compacting of nano-
crystalline oxides particles at
the mating interface from me-
chanical/stress cycling. The
formation of this MML resulted
in a decrease in both wear rate

32 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG


and friction coefficient values
[11-13]. Fernández et al. [10]
studied the sliding wear of a
laser cladded NiCrBSi alloy
reinforced with WC particles
and found that the wear resis-
tance of the reinforced coating
improved due to a formation of
a compacted oxide layer on the
contact surface which had re-
duced adhesive wear. Alidokht
et al. [11] showed that the room
temperature wear rate of a cold
sprayed Ni-10.5 vol% WC had a
wear rate that was drastically
lower to that of a cold sprayed
pure nickel coating. Further-
more, they determined that WC
particles promoted the forma-
tion of a stable MML composed
of nanocrystalline/amorphous
oxygen-rich nickel.
At elevated temperatures,
nickel and nickel alloys readily
form a compacted oxide layer,
also termed a ‘glaze’ that re-
duces friction under dry sliding
conditions [13-16]. This ‘glaze’
was found to consist of 10-50
nm particles consisting of NiO
and other simple oxides, which
are compacted together from
the induced pressure and local-
ized flash temperatures that oc-
cur during sliding [13-14]. This
‘glaze’ forms predominantly
in the contact area because of
oxidative wear [14, 17-19]. The
formation and growth of the
‘glaze’ was further studied by
Jiang et al. [15] in studying a
nickel-based alloy under dry
sliding conditions up to 250˚C. A
conceptual model was proposed
describing the tribo mechanics
of the compacted oxide debris,
which they labeled as “tribo-
sintering”, where entrapped
wear debris particles in the
sliding contact area undergoes
further fracture and sintering
under localized pressure and
temperature increases, lead-
ing to a formation of lubricious
and wear-resistant oxide layer.
WWW.STLE.ORG
This complex phenomenon was
observed at different tempera-
tures and pressures depending
on the material system [14-
15,18].
The motivation behind this
work was to study the room
and elevated temperature dry
sliding tribological behavior of
cold-sprayed Ni-WC composite
coatings. More specifically, pure
Ni and Ni-WC composite coat-
ings were tested under unidi-
rectional dry sliding conditions
at room temperature, 200˚C
and 400˚C. Thermal softening
and oxidative wear were found
to be the processes that domi-
nated at elevated temperatures,
which resulted in an increase in
the wear rate and a decrease in
the friction coefficient.
2. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Cold sprayed Ni and Ni-WC (~25
vol.% WC) coatings, ~1 mm
in thickness, were deposited
onto mild steel plates by Mc-
Gill University using the same
processing parameters men-
tioned in previous studies [11].
The as-deposited coatings were
initially characterized using X-
ray Diffraction (XRD) and scan-
ning electron microscopy (SEM)
equipped with energy dispersive
spectroscopy (EDS) to evaluate
the structure, chemistry, and
surface morphology/elemental
composition. The mechanical
hardness of the coatings was
measured using a Vicker’s mi-
crohardness indenter by ap-
plying a static load of 10 N for
a 10 second hold time. Areas of
indentions were selected ran-
domly, with at least 10 indents
per sample, to determine aver-
age hardness values.
Sliding wear testing was
conducted using a unidirection-
al pin-on-disk tribometer. Hard
WC-Co balls with a diameter of
6.25 mm were used as the coun-
terface material to minimize ball
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
300
250
200
HV1
150
100
0 100
Temperature (°C)
Figure 1. Microhardness of cold sprayed Ni and Ni-WC at room tempera-
ture, 200˚C and 400 ˚C.
wear. All tests were performed
using a normal load of 2.5 N, a
sliding velocity of 2 cm/s, and a
sliding distance of 200 m with at
least three repeat tests for each
condition. A heating coil under
the stage enabled testing at
elevated temperatures, set at
200˚C or 400˚C for this study,
with two heat shields enclosing
the tribometer. Sliding wear
tests were run in open air with a
relative humidity of ~40%. White
light interferometry was used to
measure the wear volume loss.
The volume wear (mm3) was
then divided over the load (2.5
N) and sliding distance (200 m),
to obtain specific wear rates
(mm3/N·m).
3. RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
Prior to sliding wear tests, the
as-deposited Ni and Ni-WC coat-
ings were evaluated using XRD
and microhardness testing. The
XRD data for the Ni cold sprayed
coatings revealed distinct dif-
fraction peaks that correspond
to a FCC nickel structure. Ad-
ditionally, no oxide peaks were
observed, which was expected
Pure Ni
Ni-WC
200 300 400
due to the low processing tem-
peratures [3,11]. While the XRD
spectra for the Ni-WC powders
and coatings showed peaks in
both spectra corresponding to
Ni and WC phases. After depo-
sition, no new phases, such as
W2C or other brittle intermetal-
lic phases, were created that
are usually found when these
coatings are produced using
processes that require higher
temperatures [7-9]. After an-
nealing the as-deposited coat-
ing at 400˚C in air, XRD analysis
showed the presence of NiO in
both coatings, while WC and
WO3 were also detected in the
Ni-WC coating. Figure 1 shows
microhardness values for Ni and
Ni-WC coatings measured at
room temperature (RT), 200˚C,
and 400˚C. The cold sprayed Ni
exhibited an average hardness
of 178 HV at RT similar to previ-
ously reported values [16]. With
the addition of WC, the micro-
hardness increased to 263 HV.
This increase in microhardness
is attributed to the hard WC par-
ticles. After heating the Ni-WC
coating to 200˚C, the microhard-
ness decreased to 235 HV. The
APRIL 2018 • 33
 Q SCHOLARSHIP RESEARCH

lower microhardness values perienced surface oxidation that

are attributed to a release of the may have also compromised the
compressive stresses stored strength of the WC agglomer-
in the coating due to the shot ates, reducing their load bear-
peening (or tamping effect) [4]. ing ability in Ni-WC composite
Moreover, after heating to 400˚C coating.
the microhardness decreased to Figure 2 shows average
100 HV and 160 HV for the cold sliding coefficient of friction
sprayed Ni and Ni-WC coating, (COF) data of as-deposited Ni
respectively. This drop in hard- and Ni-WC coatings tested at RT,
ness may be correlated to the 200 ˚C, and 400˚C. Both coatings
further annealing of the coat- exhibited a lower friction during
ings, forming larger grains that the run-in period before reach-
decrease shear strength and ing a steady-state value of ~0.42
promote plastic deformation. and ~0.50 for Ni-WC and Ni coat-
In addition, the cold sprayed Ni ing, respectively. The addition
and Ni-WC surface at 400˚C ex- of WC to the Ni matrix caused

0.7 Figure 4. Low and high resolution SEM micrographs of room temperature
Pure Ni wear track for cold sprayed nickel (a),(c) and Ni-WC (b),(d) coatings. White
0.6 Ni-WC arrow indicated tribolayer.
Average CoF (ȝ)

0.5 a drop in COF, possibly due to tion of temperature (RT, 200˚C

the presence of amorphous car- and 400˚C). At RT, the Ni and
0.4 bon which protects the surface Ni-WC coatings exhibited wear
from severe deformation [10- rates of 1.79×10-4 mm3/N·m and
12]. This protective mechanism 0.47x10-4 mm3/N·m, respective-
0.3
occurs when free carbon is en- ly. As expected, the addition of
trained into the surface tribo- the load-bearing WC particles
0.2 layer along with the embedded caused a decrease in the wear
carbide particles that promote rate by preventing plastic de-
0.1 the formation of a protective formation caused by adhesion
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 oxide layer [10-12, 17]. Figure at the mating interface and is
Temperature (°C) 2 shows that the average COF in a good agreement with ear-
increased to ~0.58 when the lier reports [4,10]. For tests at
Figure 2. Average friction coefficient plotted at RT, 200°C and 400°C for cold temperature was increased to 400˚C, the wear rate increased
sprayed Ni and Ni-WC coatings. 200˚C and decreased to ~0.38 to 4.06×10 -4 mm 3 /N·m and
and ~0.32 for the Ni and Ni-WC 3.67x10-4 mm3/N·m for the Ni
ϵ coatings, respectively, at 400˚C. and Ni-WC coatings, respec-
WƵƌĞEŝ The decrease in COF at the high- tively. This increase was due
ϴ ϳ͘Ϯϵ
EŝͲt
er temperatures was likely the to thermal softening of the Ni
ϳ
tĞĂƌƌĂƚĞ;ϭϬоϰŵŵΔϯͬEŵͿ

result of the formation of a lubri- matrix which reduced the shear

ϲ
cious surface oxide layer. This strength of the coating and cre-
ϱ trend was previously reported ated large wear debris from ad-
ϰ͘Ϭϲ
ϰ
ϯ͘ϲϳ in similar studies on Ni-based hesive wear. While the largest
tribosystems [13-19]. wear rates were recorded at
ϯ
In addition to friction, the 200˚C for the Ni-WC coatings
ϭ͘ϳϵ
Ϯ
wear rates of the coating were due to thermal softening with-
ϭ Ϭ͘ϰϳϯ determined after dry sliding out the formation of a protec-
Ϭ
tests to further assess the tri- tive oxide tribolayer (discussed
Ϯϱ ϮϬϬ ϰϬϬ bological performance of the below).
dĞŵƉĞƌĂƚƵƌĞ;ΣͿ
coatings. The wear rates of Figures 4 (a) and (b) display
Figure 3. Average wear rate of cold sprayed Ni and Ni-WC coatings at RT, the Ni and Ni-WC coatings are low magnification SEM images
200°C and 400°C. shown in Figure 3 as a func- of the RT wear tracks

34 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

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Q SCHOLARSHIP RESEARCH
of the Ni and Ni-WC coatings,
respectively. The Ni coating
wear surface displayed signifi-
cant plastic deformation (see
Figure 4 (a)). The black arrow
in Figure 4 (c) revealed signs of
adhesive wear whereby delami-
nation occurred [5]. As the Ni is
plastically deformed as a result
of sliding, an unstable NiO layer
formed on the coating surface
that was compacted into a me-
chanically mixed tribolayer [10-
11]. Furthermore, the interfacial
shear stress from two-body ad-
hesion caused tribolayer cracks,
which resulted in the removal
of protective oxides and expos-
ing subsurface Ni to oxidation,
then expanding and repeating
in successive cycles. The width
of wear track of the Ni-WC coat-
ings was smaller than that of
Ni and seemed to display less
plastic deformation (Figure 4
(b)). A high resolution image in
Figure 4 (d) showed the pres-
ence of abrasive wear from
wear particles formed during
the initial run-in. In addition, a
distinct tribolayer in the middle
of the Ni-WC wear track formed
which is elevated relative to its
surrounding surface (see white
arrow). Similar to the Ni coating,
adhesive wear of the Ni-matrix
occurs at the sliding interface.
However, abrasive wear was
also present, indicated by the
comminution of WC that re-
crystallized into oxide particles
at the mating surface. As the
counterface moved over the
finer oxide debris, they were
compacted into a MML of nano-
crystalline/amorphous oxides
particles that formed a wear re-
sistant layer, minimizing plastic
flow, unlike pure nickel where
the oxide layer repeatedly de-
laminated. The WC particles fa-
cilitated faster formation of the
tribolayer causing less plastic
deformation inside the Ni-WC
wear track [11].
36 • APRIL 2018
At 400˚C, the wear rate
increased while the COF de-
creased due to a change from
adhesive to oxidative wear. This
is evident in Figure 5 (a) where
patches of a smooth ‘glaze’
Figure 5. Worn surface morphology of wear track at low (a) and high (b)
magnification for cold sprayed Ni coating at 400˚C. White arrows indicated
the tribolayer formed.
Figure 6. SEM micrograph of room temperature wear tracks at low and
high magnification for cold sprayed Ni-WC (a),(c) at 200˚C and (b),(d) at
400˚C. Morphology of wear debris outside the wear track at 200˚C (e) and
400 ˚C (f).
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
formed on the surface along
with elevated lips on the sides
of the wear track which are both
characteristic signatures of oxi-
dative wear. Figure 5 (b) shows
a high resolution image of the
worn surface for the Ni coating
where the dark region in the top
is the ‘glaze’ that forms from
the compacted wear debris
seen below the ‘glaze’. These
results were in agreement with
previous room temperature test
studies, indicating formation of
surface ‘glaze’ [13]. Unlike room
temperature tests, a higher
wear rate was observed for ele-
vated temperatures even when
the ‘glaze’ layer was formed.
This may be explained by the
coarsening of the Ni grains at
elevated temperatures which
lower the shear strength of the
coating, creating large wear
debris. Furthermore, due to the
softening effect of Ni, the matrix
becomes susceptible to plastic
flow during initial run-in where
most of the wear occurs [13-14].
EDS of the ‘glaze’ layer was con-
ducted and found to consist of
equiatomic amounts of Ni and
O, suggestive of a NiO-based
‘glaze’ layer.
Figure 6 shows low and
high magnification SEM im-
ages of the Ni-WC wear track
at 200˚C and 400˚C. A high
degree of abrasive wear was
observed at 200˚C (Figure 6
(c)). The change in wear mech-
anisms from RT to 200˚C may
be attributed to the Ni matrix
annealing thereby weaken-
ing the cohesion between the
Ni matrix and WC particles.
Therefore, the more highly
stressed carbide particles
were ‘ejected’ at a higher rate
under these conditions. This al-
lowed for ploughing wear and
the formation of fine oxides
particles from the dislodged
surface debris. The generated
wear debris was then recycled
through the mating interface
leading to the abrasive wear
as the particles were dragged
through the interfacial sliding
contact. Guo et al. [20] found
similar results due to the in-
WWW.STLE.ORG
homogeneity of WC-Ni ceramic
phase in a NiCrBSi/WC-Ni com-
posite coating which resulted
in severe shear removal of WC
particles creating third-body
abrasive wear, contributing to
the higher friction observed at
elevated temperatures for the
composite coatings. Figure 6
(e) and (f) show the change in
wear debris morphology after
dry sliding tests at 200˚C and
400˚C, respectively. The wear
debris in Figure 6 (e) was com-
posed of fine oxide particles
that were not able to form a
protective layer during sliding
contact. These submicron oxide
particles were continuously
re-fractured into fine debris at
the interface and contributed
to the increased abrasive wear
(Figure 6 (c)). Conversely, the
REFERENCES
[1] A. Moridi, S. M. Hassani-Gang-
araj, M. Guagliano, and M. Dao.
Cold Spray Coating: Review of
Material Systems and Future
Perspectives. Surf. Eng. 30
(2014) 369-95.
[2] R.C. Dykhuizen and M.f. Smith,
Gas Dynamic Principles of
Cold Spray. J Ther. Spray
Techno. 7 (1998) 205-12.
[3] J.R. Davis, Handbook of Ther-
mal Spray Technology, ASM
international, 2004.
[4] T.W. Clyne and P. J. Withers,
An Introduction to Metal Ma-
trix Composites. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2003.
[5] K. Kato, Wear in Relation to
Friction- a review. Wear 241
(2000) 151-57.
[6] F. Gartner, T. Stoltenhoff, T.
Schmidt, and H. Kreye, The
Cold Spray Process and Its
Potential for Industrial Appli-
cations. J Ther. Spray Techno.
15 (2006) 223-32.
[7] M. Rombouts, R. Persoons, E.
Geerinckx, R. Kemps, M.
Mertens, W. Hendrix, and H.
Chen, Development and Char-
WWW.STLE.ORG
400˚C wear debris, shown in
Figure 6 (f), exhibits a smooth
plate-like structure. The plate-
like debris appeared as patches
(glaze). Parts of the glaze were
observed to dislodge from the
surface more readily for pure
Ni due to the larger wear de-
bris, whereas the Ni-WC forms
a coherent ‘glaze’.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Tribological behavior of cold
sprayed Ni and Ni-WC coatings
was investigated from room
temperature up to 400˚C under
dry sliding wear conditions. It
was determined that:
• Cold spray Ni-WC compos-
ite coatings have improved
wear resistance at RT and
400˚C when compared to
acterization of Nickel Based
Tungsten Carbide Laser Clad-
ded Coatings. Physics Proce-
dia. 5 (2010) 333-39.
[8] K. Van Acker, D. Vanhoywe-
ghen, R. Persoons, and J. Van-
grunderbeek, Influence of
Tungsten Carbide Particle Size
and Distribution on the Wear
Resistance of Laser Clad WC/
Ni Coatings. Wear. 258 (2005)
194-202.
[9] J.S. Xu, X.C. Zhang, F.Z. Xuan,
Z.D. Wang, and S.T. Tu, Micro-
structure and Sliding Wear
Resistance of Laser Cladded
WC/Ni Composite Coatings
with Different Contents of WC
Particle. J. of Mater. Eng. Per-
form. 21 (2011) 1904-911.
[10] M.R. Fernández, A. García, J.M.
Cuetos, R. González, A. Norie-
ga, M. Cadenas, Effect of ac-
tual WC content on the recip-
rocating wear of a laser
cladding NiCrBSi alloy rein-
forced with WC. Wear 324–325
(2015) 80–89.
[11] S.A. Alidokht, P. Manimunda,
P. Vo, S. Yue, and R.R. Chro-
mik, Cold Spray Deposition of
a Ni-WC Composite Coating
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
non-reinforced pure Ni cold
spray coatings.
• Unidirectional dry sliding
(ball-on-disk) resulted in
lower COF values with in-
creased temperature due
to a change in wear mecha-
nisms.
• Due to the softening of Ni
matrix at elevated temper-
atures, higher wear rates
occurred.
• EDS revealed the formation
of a NiO ‘glaze’ at higher
temperatures along with
the formation of a lubricious
NiO transfer film. The ‘glaze’
layer was associated with
the reduction in friction.
• A change from predominant-
ly adhesive and abrasive
and Its Dry Sliding Wear Be-
havior. Surf. Coat. Techno. 308
(2016) 424-34.
[12] J. Jiang, F.H. Stott, and M.M.
Stack, The Role of Tribopar-
ticulates in Dry Sliding Wear.
Tribo. Intern. 31 (1998) 245-56.
[13] F.H. Stott and G.C. Wood, The
Influence of Oxides on the Fric-
tion and Wear of Alloys. Tribo.
Intern. 11 (1978) 211-18.
[14] F.H. Stott, D.S. Lin, and G.C.
Wood, The Structure and
Mechanism of Formation of the
‘Glaze’ Oxide Layers Produced
on Nickel-based Alloys during
Wear at High Temperatures.
Corrosion Sci. 13 (1973) 449-
69.
[15] J. Jiang, F.H. Stott, and M.M.
Stack. Some Frictional Fea-
tures Associated with the Slid-
ing Wear of the Nickel-base
Alloy N80A at Temperatures to
250°C. Wear 176 (1994) 185-
94.
[16] C.H. Hager, J. Sanders, S.
Sharma, A.A. Voevodin, and A.
Segall, The Effect of Tempera-
ture on Gross Slip Fretting
Wear of Cold-sprayed Nickel
Coatings on Ti6Al4V Interfac-
wear at RT to oxidative wear
at 400˚C was observed.
• The wear resistance of cold
spray Ni-WC was compro-
mised at higher temperatures
due to the thermal softening
of the Ni matrix at elevated
temperatures, but resulted in
lowering of the friction.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Financial support from the
Army Research Laboratory
under Cooperative Agreement
A17-0022 is gratefully acknowl-
edged. Also, characterization
facilities at UNT Center for
Advanced Research and Tech-
nology (CART) and Professor
Richard Chromik and Sima Ali-
dokht at McGill University for
supplying the coatings.
es. Tribo. Intern. 42 (2009)
491-502.
[17] C.H. Hager, J. Sanders, S.
Sharma, and A.A. Voevodin,
The Use of Nickel Graphite
Composite Coatings for the
Mitigation of Gross Slip Fret-
ting Wear on Ti6Al4V Inter-
faces. Wear 267 (2009) 1470-
481.
[18] C.H. Hager, J. Hu, C. Muratore,
A.A. Voevodin, and R. Grandhi,
The Mechanisms of Gross Slip
Fretting Wear on Nickel Oxide/
Ti6Al4V Mated Surfaces. Wear
268 (2009) 1195-204.
[19] W. Li, C. Huang, M. Yu, D. Liu,
Y. Feng, and H. Liao, Investiga-
tion of High Temperature Oxi-
dation Behavior and Tribologi-
cal Performance on Cold
Sprayed Nickel-alumina Com-
posite Coating. Surf. Coat.
Techno. 239 (2014) 95-101.
[20] C. Guo, J. Zhou, J. Chen, J.
Zhao, Y. Yu, and H. Zhou, High
Temperature Wear Resistance
of Laser Cladding NiCrBSi and
NiCrBSi/WC-Ni Composite
Coatings. Wear 270 (2011)
492-98.
APRIL 2018 • 37
COMMENTARY
Rational Rationality
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham
Contributing Editor
KEY CONCEPTS
Often well-intended
governments pursue popular
policies without examining
the science behind them.
This can lead to laws that
endorse energy fads that
don’t have much economic
benefit or true efficacy.
The best response to energy
fluctuations is to let the
market adjust to price signals.
38 • APRIL 2018
I’ve longed railed about
policy makers not considering
the whole picture when writing
laws or regulations, especially
where technical matters are
involved. In particular, they do
not consider all the costs or out-
comes associated with some
initiative. Thus, I have been
critical of initiatives in the name
of renewable, sustainable en-
ergy, food, emissions, etc., that,
when you peel back the layers,
often involve politics, greed and
subsidies to pet companies or
groups more often than not, ul-
timately, to buy votes.
Yeah, I know, cynical. The
good news is that occasionally
we apply rational rationality to
our thinking and begin to see
the errors of our ways. Here’s a
small example.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
Too many government policies are
based on good intentions but poor
conception and execution.
Biodiesel is a renewable
fuel that can be used instead
of the diesel fuel made from
petroleum. Biodiesel can be
made from vegetable oils and
animal fats. Biodiesel is most
often blended with petroleum
diesel in ratios of 2% (B2), 5%
(B5) or 20% (B20). Biodiesel
also can be used as pure bio-
diesel (B100). Biodiesel fuels
can be used in regular diesel
engines without making any
changes to the engines. Bio-
diesel also can be stored and
transported using diesel fuel
tanks and equipment. These
are good things.
In 2016 soybean oil was
the source of about 55% of
the total feedstock used to
produce biodiesel in the U.S.
This year the U.S. will burn
© Can Stock Photo / Pancaketom
about three billion gallons of
biodiesel fuel that was made
from soybean oil. Canola oil
and corn oil were the source
of about 22%, recycled grease
about 13% and animal fats
about 10% of the total feed-
stock. (Rapeseed oil, sunflow-
er oil and palm oil are other
major sources of the biodiesel
that is consumed mainly in
other countries.)
However, we burn biodiesel
not because it is better or cheap-
er, which as near as I can tell it
is not, but rather because we are
required to by a law, the Renew-
able Fuel Standard (RFS). While
this is great for Midwest farmers
(who make money and provide
votes), it is a waste of soil nutri-
ents that could be used to feed
the population.
WWW.STLE.ORG

As we know from STLE’s
recently updated Emerging
Trends Report (available for
free at www.stle.org), there is
a rapid global increase primar-
ily from emerging nations for
food, goods, services and, of
course, energy. This increase
necessitates rational thinking to
provide for the growing needs
of these nations, as well as our
own. The real goal is to improve
efficiency and productivity as
economically and sustainably
as possible while managing
emissions.
Biodiesel is one of the more
wasteful aspects of the RFS. For
example, ethanol is grown from
corn and mixed into gasoline,
again as required by the RFS.
However, gasoline companies
would likely blend in some
ethanol anyway (regardless of
whether the gas is bio or petro-
leum based) because it adds
value as a fuel additive.
Not so of biodiesel. Biodies-
el is very expensive compared
to petroleum-based diesel.
According to Scott Irwin, an
economist at the University of
Illinois, biodiesel costs about
$1.80 a gallon more than con-
ventional diesel, which results
in a cost to U.S. citizens of about
$5.4 billion a year. Further, Ir-
win notes that the use of bio-
diesel is driven under the RFS
to meet a specific quota for bio-
diesel, to meet the demand for
the use of Advanced Biofuels
and to meet the overall quota
for use of biofuels of all types,
since there is a limit to the
amount of ethanol that can be
used in gasoline. Further, EPA
claims that biodiesel use will
cut greenhouse gases by 50%.
According to Dan Charles,
NPR (National Public Radio),
“A growing number of environ-
mentalists, however, say this
calculation is dead wrong. They
say that if more soybeans are
WWW.STLE.ORG
An import tax on Argentine biodiesel resulted in
an indirect tax to U.S. consumers.
needed to make fuel in addition
to food, it inevitably means that
people somewhere on Earth
will have to plow up grasslands
or cut down forests in order to
grow that additional supply—
and clearing such land releases
huge amounts of carbon di-
oxide into the atmosphere.” I
would add that it also destroys
trees that absorb CO2 and turn
it into oxygen.
Charles continues, “Two
environmental groups—Ac-
tionAid USA and Mighty
Earth—just released a report
connecting America’s biodiesel
demands directly to deforesta-
tion in Argentina. Investigators
from the two groups document-
ed a widespread clearing of Ar-
gentine forests in order to ex-
pand cultivation of soy beans.
Simultaneously, Argentina ex-
panded its exports of soy bean-
derived biodiesel to the U.S. In
2016, in fact, Argentina shipped
more than 400 million gallons
of biodiesel to the U.S., equiva-
lent to 15% of all biodiesel that
is consumed.”
Further, apparently the U.S.
claimed that Argentina subsi-
dized its biodiesel producers to
allow for dumping in the global
market. So the U.S. imposed
taxes on all Argentine biodiesel,
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
which essentially stopped the China now provides a growing
imports and required use of the market for its soy meal, and the
more expensive U.S.-produced overall cost of soy oil globally
biodiesel. A tax on Argentine is reduced.
biodiesel results in an indirect As I previously said, I have
tax on the U.S. economy— been critical of many of our ef-
hmmm. forts in the name of renewable,
To further muddy the wa- sustainable energy, food, emis-
ters, according to Irwin, China sions, etc., initiatives that, when
has recently developed a huge you peel back the layers, often
appetite for soy meal to feed involve politics, greed and sub-
its growing hog and chicken sidies. This example with the
soy bean market is only a small
part of the bigger energy issue
and feels like another situation
where we need a little rational
rationality.
Indeed, it seems the best re-
sponse to energy fluctuations is
to let the market adjust to the
price signals. This will create
an environment that encour-
ages innovation, such as with
© Can Stock Photo / rclassen
fracking a number of years ago,
which ultimately increased sup-
ply and lowered prices of crude
oil and natural gas.
Instead, as oil prices soared
in the latter half of the last de-
cade, politicians panicked and
industry, which in turn signifi- rushed to ban certain light
cantly competes in the global bulbs and subsidize and man-
market for soybeans versus U.S. date cellulosic ethanol, bio-
demand. Thus, Argentina has a diesel and other energy fads.
new customer—sorry, trees. The media fed the panic and
But as an interesting conse- cheered the politicians on. We
quence, when you produce soy were back in the 1970s at so-
meal, a byproduct is soy oil. called peak oil and the end of
With China’s demand for meal, fossil fuels.
we now have a lot more oil in Today, once we finally al-
the market, which brings the lowed market forces to act, one
overall cost down to everyone can only ask, “How’d that work
but the U.S.—hmmm. out?” Yet we continue to emit
So as best I can sort all this ever more CO2, while continu-
out, in the U.S., driven by RFS ing to tax U.S. folks with the lat-
laws, we are forced to use a est energy fads that don’t seem
lot of biodiesel. Domestically to have much economic benefit
produced biodiesel is dispro- or true efficacy.
portionally expensive (like an We really do need a little
indirect tax on U.S. citizens) rational rationality.
and by virtue of our trade laws,
we cannot import cheaper oil. Bob Gresham is STLE’s director
In Argentina, they continue of professional development.
their deforesting practice to You can reach him at
grow more soy beans, and rgresham@stle.org.
APRIL 2018 • 39
WEBINARS
Introduction to detergents
An in-depth look at types, chemistries, functions and properties.
KEY CONCEPTS
Detergents and
dispersants are the
largest types of
lubricant additives
used in North America.
There are two main types
of detergents: neutral and
overbased.
Maintaining a detergent’s
concentration in a
reasonable range is
essential.
40 • APRIL 2018
© Can Stock Photo / bach005
By Debbie Sniderman
Contributing Editor
Detergents and dispersants are the largest types of lu-
bricant additives used in North America. They are widely used in
automotive engine oils at up to 10 wt%, marine engine oils at up
to 30 wt% due to the use of heavy fuel oil with high sulfur content,
metalworking fluids as emulsifiers in coolants or antiwear agents in
straight oils, industrial lubricants, rust and corrosion inhibitors and
in grease manufacturing.
Historically, additives began in the 1930s when complex engines
were developed that needed better lubricants. The first detergents,
calcium carboxylate, sulfonates, phosphonates and phenates, were
developed in the early 1940s. Overbased sulfonates and salicylate
have been used since the 1950s, and oil-soluble sodium detergents
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

Dr. James (Jianjun)
Wei
have been in use since the
1980s. Currently the common
types of detergents are sulfo-
nates, phenates and salicylates
(see Figure 1).
Detergents are important
lubricant additives. In oil they
serve many functions. They
neutralize inorganic or organic
acids formed by oxidation or
combustion byproducts such
as sulfuric acid. They provide
high-temperature detergency
and engine cleanliness, protect
against rust and corrosion, re-
duce friction and wear, provide
dispersancy and act as oxida-
tion stabilizers (see Figure 2 on
Page 42).
Detergent structures
Detergents are the metal salts
of organic acids that act as
surfactants that are active on
surfaces. They are composed
of three parts: soap, solid and
oil. The soap portion is an or-
ganic salt that ranges from 17-
70 wt%. The solids are metal
carbonates, hydroxide or oxide
and form the source of the de-
tergent’s base at 0-50 wt%. The
oil portion is a diluent, such as a
Group I oil, at 10-60 wt%.
The hydrophilic-lipophilic
balance (HLB) scale is most of-
ten used to describe the degree
WWW.STLE.ORG
MEET THE PRESENTER
This article is based on a Webinar originally presented by STLE Education on Dec. 8, 2016. Introduction
to Detergents is available at www.stle.org: $39 to STLE members, $59 for non-members.
Dr. James Wei is senior chemist at LANXESS Canada (formerly Chemtura Canada). He has more than
20 years of experience in academia and industry in such areas as new additives (detergents) develop-
ment, lubricant products, formulation and process, metalworking lubrication and materials lubrication.
He obtained his bachelor’s of science degree in chemical physics from the University of Science and
Technology of China and his doctorate in physical chemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Wei performed research at the University of California-Berkeley as a post-doc and Argonne National
Laboratory as a visiting scientist. He has received several academic awards, including STLE’s Al Sonntag
Award for publishing excellence. Wei is a member of STLE, ACS and SAE International. He also is a
reviewer of ASME Journal of Tribology. He has more than 30 papers and several U.S. patents. You can
reach Wei at james.wei@lanxess.com.
of a detergent’s parts to deter- tails. This structure results formed when substrates are
mine its solubility in water and from the thermodynamic driv- combined with a metal. The
oil. Surfactants with low HLB ing force to minimize contact metals can vary between Mg,
are lipophilic, or oil soluble, with incompatible phases. In Na, Ba and Ca, in which Ca is
and high HLB are hydrophilic, detergent systems, hydrophilic most extensively used due to
or water soluble. heads want to minimize contact its lower cost. There are three
Their molecules are asym- with oil phase. There is a criti- typical acid substrates all which
metric in both shape and cal micelle concentration above have R groups composed of al-
chemical compatibility, and which micelles form, and all ad- kyl chains with C10-C36. Alkyl
their most common structures ditional surfactants added to benzene sulfonic acids form
have polar hydrophilic heads the system go to micelles. Mi- typical sulfonate detergents.
that attach to metals and non- celle structures can be used to Sulfurized alkyl phenols form
polar oleophilic hydrocarbon create very small particles such phenate detergents, and alkyl
tails. Detergents can form mi- as metal carbonates and form salicylic acids form salicylates.
celles, where polar head ag- high base detergents. There also are other deter-
gregates are surrounded by Typical detergents are gents such as carboxylates and
phosphonates. New detergents
continue to be developed for
Pour Point improved performance and to
Foam Depressants, Miscellaneous, Detergents
Inhibitors, 3% 6% + meet new regulations for envi-
4% Dispersants, ronmental protection such as
35%
Corrosion low ash or ashless detergents
Inhibitors,
8% that are metal free, as well as
high-performance sulficylates,
which are the reaction product
of salicylate and sulfonate.
Neutral and overbased
There are two main types of
Oxidation detergents: neutral and over-
Inhibitors, based. Neutral detergents are
14%
prepared by reacting an acid
Antiwear Viscosity
Agents, Modifiers,
with a stoichiometric amount
10% 20% of base. The products have
low Base Numbers (BNs). Com-
Figure 1. Additive use by type (North America, 2006). mercial neutral detergents have
(Figure courtesy of LANXESS.) BNs ranging from 5-30 due to
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 41
Q WEBINARS
the presence of unreacted base
(e.g., hydroxide, or blending
with a small amount of over-
based detergent).
Neutral sulfonates provide
many functions. They work
when their polar heads adsorb
on surfaces and remove polar
particles there. In this way, they
inhibit rust and corrosion by
removing water and forming a
water-repelling barrier f ilm.
This film can prevent surface
contact and reduce friction like
a friction modifier.
Overbased detergents are
prepared by reacting an acid
with an excess amount of base
in the presence of carbon diox-
ide (CO2), forming metal car-
bonate. They have a high BN
(50-650) and are often named
by their BN (e.g., 300 BN), but
it is not accurate. The actual
chemical definition of an over-
based detergent is specified by
BN, the soap content, percent
sulfate ash, degree of overbas-
ing and metal ratio.
The BN is the theoretical
amount of potassium hydroxide
(KOH) present in the detergent
and is related to the ability to
neutralize acids. Its unit is mg
KOH/g sample. Detergents
with higher BNs have better
neutralization ability.
Soap content refers to the
amount of neutral salt, which is
related to the detergent’s clean-
ing ability. Detergents with high
soap content have better clean-
ing ability. Sulfate ash measures
the metal content. It’s obtained
from residue following combus-
tion of a detergent in the pres-
ence of sulfuric acid. The de-
gree of overbasing (conversion)
means the ratio of equivalents
of the metal base to those of the
acid substrate. The metal ratio
refers to the total equivalents
of metal per equivalent of acid.
The general formula of
an overbased calcium sulfo-
42 • APRIL 2018
O OH
O-
S O- Ca2+ O- Ca2+
2 2 C Ca2+
O 2
R R O
R
Sulfonates Phenates
Salicylates
R = Alkyl group
Note: Metal can vary: Mg, Na and Ba, in which Ca is most extensively used due to its lower cost.
Figure 2. Typical detergents. (Figure courtesy of LANXESS.)
nate is (RSO3)aCab(OH)c(CO3)d Making detergents 500 and Ca content between
where a, b, c and d represent Detergents are made differently 5%-20%. Their structure has
moles of the different groups. depending on acid substrates. a spherical CaCO 3 core with
Knowing these values allows The process for sulfonates in- a 1-10 nm radius surrounded
the metal ratio, BN, percent volves alkylation, sulfonation by a shell containing a very
soap content and the percent to form strong sulfonic acids small amount of unreacted Ca
of sulfated ash content to be and neutralization/carbonation (OH)2 and a 1-5 nm monolayer
theoretically calculated. steps to produce neutral and of surfactant.
Detergents can be clas- overbased products. For sa- There are several sources
sif ied in many ways: metal licylates/phenates, the process of acid species in used lubri-
type, carbonate type, carrier involves alkylation, neutraliza- cating oils. Acids are formed by
type, acid substrate type, etc. tion to form salicylate/phenate oxidation in high-temperature
For the example of sulfonates, weak base salts or carbonation operation, during the combus-
metal types include Ca, Mg, Ba to form overbased products. tion process (e.g., heavy fuel oil
and Na, corresponding to cal- Overbased calcium sul- forms sulfuric acid), by decom-
cium sulfonates, magnesium fonates. Overbased sulfonates position of additives and as a
sulfonate, etc. Carbonate types are formed by the carbonation consequence of corrosion. Re-
can be amorphous and crys- reaction. The products are serve alkalinity can neutralize
tal calcite sulfonate. There are bright, clear and oil soluble. these acids and work together
sulfonates with different carrier They have BN values up to with the soap to protect sur-
types, for example, mineral oil faces.
based common in most cases In an overbased sulfonate,
and fuel oil based, which is only the source of base includes car-
in Mg sulfonates. bonate and a small amount of
Sulfonates can have natu- free hydroxide. The hydroxide
ral or synthetic acid substrate should react first followed by
types. Natural sulfonic acids the carbonate because hydrox-
are derived from byproducts ide is a stronger base. Therefore
of white oil manufacturing or both BN and free alkalinity are
from sulfonation of Group I very important for the perfor-
base oils and create natural sul- mance of sulfonates.
fonates. Synthetic sulfonic acids During carbonation, several
are derived from synthetic al- possible CaCO3 types may form.
kylates and generate synthetic Amorphous carbonate is the de-
sulfonates. sirable form. There are several
Of all of the sulfonates, Ca types of crystalline carbonates
sulfonates make up about 65% such as vaterite, an undesirable
Figure 3. Lab sample of a pure
in total detergent consumption overbased sulfonate detergent. A fibrous structure, and aragonite,
and are the most important (see plant sample can be even darker. also undesirable, and calcite, a
Figure 3). (Figure courtesy of LANXESS.) layered structure that
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG
Bringing
the future
into focus
In a world of evolving lubricant
demands, real ingenuity begins
at the molecular level. That’s why
we continue to develop smartly
designed base stock slates for
broad automotive and industrial
applications. Today and tomorrow.

All bases covered.

ExxonMobil Basestocks

© 2017 ExxonMobil. All trademarks used herein are trademarks or

registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. exxonmobil.com/basestocks
Q WEBINARS

has limited use due to its excel-
lent lubricity. While the calcite
core sulfonates can be used in
rust preventives (RP oil), greas-
es and industrial lubricants and
sulfonates with amorphous
structures are widely used and
dominate the market.
CaCO 3 can be converted
from an amorphous structure
to a crystalline one. One way
is by overcarbonation, which
has excess CO 2 as an input.
Slow filtration is observed dur-
ing overcarbonation. Calcite
crystalline structure contains
two parallel layers consisting
of CO3 and Ca similar to those
of solid lubricants (e.g., MoS2,
graphite and boric acid). Nor-
mally FTIR is used to identify
the presence and type of cal-
cium carbonate (see Table 1).
Table 1. Identification of 2 Types of Calcium Carbonates due to its toxicity. Sodium sul-
(Table courtesy of LANXESS.) fonates are used for metalwork-
ing fluids and rust preventives.
Crystalline Neutral sulfonates are com-
Property Amorphous
(Calcite) mon. It is hard to achieve high
BN due to water solubility of Na
FT-IR, cm-1 858 - 863 (broad) 879 - 881
carbonate.
Detergent performance.
Particle Size, nm 10 - 30 100 - 200
Detergent performance de-
Clarity clear hazy pends on many factors, the
type of detergent soap (sulfo-
Lubricity good excellent nate, phenate or salicylate) (see
Table 2) and soap content, the
molecular configuration of non-
polar alkyl chains (whether lin-
It’s easily distinguishable from high as 650. Mg fuel additives ear or branched type, etc.), the
amorphous with a broad peak. are used for corrosion preven- molecular weight of the deter-
Also, particle size is different. tion in fuel oil burning cases. gent soap, the metal ratio, BN
Sulfonates containing Barium sulfonates are used for level and metal type, etc.
Mg, Ba and Na. Magnesium rust- and corrosion-prevention Detergency and disper-
sulfonates are used as fuel addi- applications, and low BN sul- sancy. All detergents have very
tives (600 BN) and oil additives fonates are available. The use good or excellent detergency
(400 BN). Their BNs can go as of Ba sulfonates is decreased and also some dispersancy.

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44 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 Detergents are composed of
three parts: soap, solid and oil.

Table 2. Properties of Sulfonate, Phenate and Salicylate (Table courtesy of LANXESS.)
1 - 650 (typical 5 - 30 for
BN
Viscosity (cSt @ 100°C)
Metal ratio
Soap content, %
Common metal cation
Sulfer content, %
M.W. for acid substrate
Note: Some data cited from book: R.M. Mortier, M.F. Fox and S.T. Orszulik, Chemistry and Technology of Lubricants,
3rd Edition, Springer, 2010.
Detergents and dispersants
are often used together in oil
formulations. They are related
but not the same. Detergency
is the ability to keep surfaces
clean, while dispersancy is the
micelle structures trap particles
and hold them in suspension.
Detergents’ suspending abili-
Sulfonates Phenates Salicylates
ties are not as good as commer-
cial dispersants (e.g., PIB-suc-
50 - 400 (typical 150 to 50 - 400 (typical 200 to cinimide) because dispersants
neutral, 200 - 500 for
270) 360)
overbased) are metal free, non-basic and
have higher molecular weight.
10 - 300 10 - 300 10 - 300 Panel coker tests are used
to test the amount of detergen-
1 - 30 0.8 - 10 1 - 10
cy and display the appearance
10 - 70 (typical 18 - 28 of the deposit. They show the
for overbased, >40 for 30 - 60 (typical >40) 10 - 60 (typical >30) amount of deposit on the surface
neutral) measured in mg (see Figure 4).
Ca, Mg, Na Ca Ca, Mg Corrosion prevention.
Detergents also prevent rust
0.5 - 4.0 0 - 4.0 0 and cor rosion by several
mechanisms. Metal soap coats
370 - 700 160 - 1000 160 - 1000 the surface, preventing water
from getting to it and displac-
ing water on the surface. Car-
bonates and hydroxides neu-
tralize acidic materials, which
promote corrosion.
ability to keep large particles in preferentially coating a surface The rust prevention effec-
solution. and removing polar components tiveness of traditional sulfonate
In engines, high-temperature from surface, preventing depos- increases with ionic radius, with
cleanliness is extremely impor- its from forming there. barium having the highest, then
tant. The mechanism of deter- Dispersancy comes about Ca, then Mg and Na having the
gency is due to polar metal soaps when the metal soap and/or lowest. Mg fuel additives pre-

Sulficylate Sulfonate Salicylate Sulfonate/Salicylate Phenate Sulfonate/Phenate

220 BN 302 BN 270 BN 285 BN 250 BN 302 BN
38 mg 30 mg 110 mg 116 mg 173 mg 63 mg

Figure 4. Panel coker test shows detergency rate of selected detergents. At conditions specified, individual sulficylate, sulfonate and blend of sulfonate
and phenate show better detergency (lower mg deposited on the surface) than individual salicylate, phenate and blend of sulfonate and salicylate. (Figure
courtesy of J. Wei and W. Mackwood, Presentation at 71st STLE Meeting.)

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 45

Q WEBINARS
Figure 5. Pouring detergent.
(Figure courtesy of LANXESS.)
vent corrosion in exhaust gases
from fuel oil burning in turbine
and boiler in power generation
applications. The mechanism of
high BN magnesium sulfonates
is as follows. MgCO3 reacts with
SO3 and SO2 to form MgSO4 at
room temperature. At high tem-
peratures, MgCO3 decomposes
to MgO, which reacts with the
corrosive impurities that come
from fuel oil such as Vanadium
pentoxide and forms noncor-
rosive compounds.
V2O5 + MgO → MgO.V2O5
Rust tests (ASTM D665
A/B), humidity cabinet tests
(ASTM D1748) and salt fog
tests (ASTM B117) are typically
used to evaluate corrosion per-
formance of detergents.
Antiwear and friction
reduction. Controlling friction
and wear is important for all lu-
bricants. Overbased detergents
have good antiwear functions,
and some detergents (neutral
and overbased) have good fric-
tion reduction. Four-ball wear
testing (ASTM D4172) shows
improved wear scar diameters
when calcite or amorphous car-
46 • APRIL 2018
Figure 6. Crystalline structure
of CaCO3. (Figure courtesy of
LANXESS.)
bonate particles are included
to base oils, with calcite having
better results than amorphous
carbonate. Other common fric-
tion tests also are used to de-
termine the antiwear properties
and performance of detergents
(see Figure 5).
CaCO3 particles can act as
a lubricant by two mechanisms.
When carbonate particles de-
posit on surfaces, they prevent
direct contact with the surface.
And during contact with high
pressure and temperature, the
transformation of amorphous
to crystalline calcite also pro-
vides excellent lubrication (see
Figure 6).
Oxidation stability. Oxi-
dation stability is crucial to the
quality and lifetime of lubri-
cants. Most lubricating oils con-
tain commercial antioxidants
such as phenolic and aminic
products. Detergents with phe-
nolic functional groups such as
phenates and salicylates have
inherent antioxidation charac-
teristics, and detergents with-
out these groups, such as sul-
fonates, do not. This has been
confirmed by Pressure Differ-
ential Scanning Calorimeter
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
CO3
layer
Ca
layer
Figure 7. This motor oil is a fully formulated
engine oil, which contains detergents and other
additives. (Figure courtesy of LANXESS.)
(PDSC) testing of detergents in
engine oil by looking at oxida-
tion induction time. Rotating
Pressure Vessels Oxidation
Testing (RPVOT, ASTM D2272)
also is used to evaluate oxida-
tion stability in detergents.
Detergents also control de-
posit, measured by Thermo-ox-
idation Engine Oil Simulation
Test (TEOST, ASTM D7097),
hot tube tests and engine tests.
Other properties also may be
important depending on appli-
cation, such as the Demulsibil-
ity Test (ASTM D1401), hydro-
lytic stability test or others.
Selecting detergents
Detergents are widely used in
lubricant formulations (see Fig-
ure 7). They play a key role in
maintaining engine cleanliness,
providing corrosion protection
and deposit control as well as
several other performance en-
hancements. Depending on the
specific applications, operating
conditions such as temperature,
speed, pressure and material
type, detergent specifications,
properties, performance and
cost, proper detergents can be
selected.
There also are a few rules
of thumb to keep in mind when
selecting detergents. It’s impor-
tant to maintain the detergent’s
concentration in a reasonable
range. Too much may cause
excessive deposit and inter-
fere with other additives, and
too little impairs performance.
Compatibility between deter-
gents and other additives such
as dispersants, antiwear and
antioxidation agents also is crit-
ical to consider. Sulfonates and
salicylate are incompatible and
form sediment in base oil. They
should not be blended. Sulfo-
nates are often used with phe-
nate to improve performance.
They must pass the sediment
test to show good compatibil-
ity prior to use. Some combina-
tions between detergents and
dispersants show synergistic
effects and some show antago-
nistic effects by looking at the
thermal oxidative stability of
base stocks.
Debbie Sniderman is an engineer
and CEO of VI Ventures, LLC,
an engineering consulting
company. You can reach her at
info@vivllc.com.
WWW.STLE.ORG
 You work in a
technical world.
Should you belong to
a technical society?
Keeping current with technical changes in the lubricants
field is a daunting task.
More than 3,000 of your peers have solved this problem by
joining the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.
STLE is the premier technical organization representing
lubrication professionals and tribology researchers.
Professionals from industry, academia and government join
STLE because they know no organization offers a more
complete look at the field of tribology.
STLE provides the lubricant industry’s highest level of
technical training and professional development. But the
benefits of membership don’t stop there.
STLE membership is a mark of distinction. It confers the seal
of authority on you and your organization and affiliates you
with the world’s leading experts in lubrication.
You work in a technical world. You belong in a technical
society. You belong in STLE.
Learn more about the benefits of STLE membership
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FEATURE ARTICLE

Oil analysis
past and
future

© Can Stock Photo / Garsya

KEY CONCEPTS
Although soaps and oils for lubrication have been around since the
17th Century BC, oil analysis has been in use for about 80 years.

Computers and the Internet enabled the biggest advancements in oil analysis.

The next paradigm shift in oil analysis will be embedded sensors.

48 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 Each milestone paves the way for
advancements in sampling techniques,
data analyses and timeliness of reporting.

By Jeanna Van Rensselar

Senior Feature Writer

O il analysis has been in use since the early 1940s and was immediately accepted
as a critical tool for determining the health of machinery. What has changed are the
capabilities, the accuracy of the analyses and the time and means of transporting
results. Also, there are now complementary condition monitoring technologies such
as vibration monitoring, thermography and ultrasound.

Darren Goll, mobile main-
tenance, reliability fleet con-
dition monitor, Albian Sands
Muskeg River Oil Sands Mine,
Canadian Natural Resources,
Ltd., says, “When I started my
career in the 1980s, most diesel
engines required much periodic
maintenance. Most transmis-
sions required clutch mid-life
change-outs and resealing, and
many final drives needed mid-
life bearing and seal change-
outs. Hydraulic systems had
mostly gear pumps with low
life expectancies. Today’s
engines, transmissions, final
drives and hydraulic systems
are more complex, more ex-
pensive and require little or no
maintenance; they don’t need
to be opened up. This techno-
logical improvement meant
we required another method
to determine the internal com-
ponent condition to the end of
usable life. Oil analysis was an
efficient solution for looking
inside and monitoring wear
trends, tracking and illustrating
trend ranges from normal wear
characteristics to abnormal
wear and catching parts failures
early so that we can make re-
pairs and extend the lifecycle.”
The genesis of oil analysis1
While the history of lubrication
dates back 3,700 years, the
widespread use of oil analysis
to determine the condition of
the oil, and later the equipment,
began in the 20th Century.
The 1940s. Systematic oil
analysis began in the late 1940s.
Early applications were geared
toward avoiding catastrophic
and costly failures of operat-
ing equipment. It was first used
after World War II by U.S. rail-
roads to monitor the condition
of locomotives via wear metal
analysis. Bench testing was per-
formed by chemists, one metal
at a time.
In 1946 the Denver and Rio
Grande Railroad research lab
detected diesel engine problems
through wear metal analysis of
used oils. Key to the success was
the development of the spec-
trograph, which replaced wet
chemical methods for detect-
ing and measuring individual
chemical elements. This prac-
tice was quickly accepted and
used extensively throughout the
railroad industry.
In 1946 Walter Baird in-
vented the direct read emis-
sion spectrometer, capable of
analyzing dozens of elements
at once and requiring no back-
ground in chemistry to operate.
This represented a major shift
in oil analysis and ushered in
machine analysis. Most com-
panies involved in oil analysis
used either an atomic absorp-
tion spectrometer or an atomic
emission spectrometer.2
The 1950s. Success in
rail engines prompted the U.S.
Navy to begin experimenting
with used oil analysis using
spectrometry on ships and air-
craft engines (additional suc-

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 49

Q FEATURE ARTICLE
cesses by the Navy led to the
U.S. Army adopting this form
of analysis in the 1960s) (see Oil
analysis in the Army). Around
this time Rolls-Royce also was
experimenting with oil analysis
on jet turbines. Comprehensive
oil analysis programs were de-
veloped by the U.S. Army and
Air Force.
The 1960s. The U.S. Army
and Air Force generated reports
manually, and a data analyst in-
terpreted the data with codes.
Most reports were copied and
mailed, with critical reports
phoned in. As oil analysis be-
came increasingly mainstream,
there was a demand for more
expeditious processing.
Shane Elzinga, product
support representative, Kearl
Oil Sands Project, says, “Origi-
nally the oil sample results were
printed on paper and sent by
mail. As technology improved
the same individual samples
were emailed via PDF attach-
In the 1940s railroads detected diesel engine problems through wear metal analysis of used oil.
50 • APRIL 2018
ment. Now the sample reports
are Web based. Having good
information in a timely man-
ner supports a sustainable
condition-based monitoring
program.”
The 1970s. Oil analysis
now included wear metals,
viscosity, contamination and
degradation testing. Together
these tests were reasonably
complete and provided ad-
equate information along with
value. The primary shortcom-
ing was the ability to detect
particles less than five microns.
The biggest struggle was man-
aging large amounts of data
manually. It was relatively easy
to discern trends, but detailed
comparisons of large data sets
required a significant amount
of time and complex calcula-
tions. Computers were first in-
troduced in the lab toward the
end of the decade.
STLE-member Charles Gay,
CLS, OMA, senior data analyst
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
for Bureau Veritas in Atlanta, particle sizing and counting
says, “The integration of com- came onto the scene but still
puters and the Internet has was unable to detect particles
been the great- smaller than five
est advancement microns. Also,
in oil analysis Comprehensive this system didn’t
technology. The oil analysis distinguish be-
ability to com- programs were tween particulate
municate in the developed by nature; it only
form of sending the U.S. Army sorted, sized and
data, perfor m counted.
p r e s e n t a t i o n s,
and Air Force Despite this,
provide training in the 1950s. the 1980s was the
and an overview decade of profes-
of a customer’s test data in real sional oil analysis. Regional
time has been a phenomenal laboratories began to thrive,
improvement.” and larger oil analysis firms
Elzinga says, “With an on- opened additional locations in
line database, trending, com- an effort to cover a wider ge-
ponent and fleet analysis are ography with faster turnaround.
possible without having to To that end, oil analysis reports
manually enter a lot of data. were faxed for the first time.
This can provide timely, useful Goll explains, “When I
and actionable information to started my career in the 1980s,
manage equipment, and this in- usually only large companies
formation can be easily and im- used oil analysis, then more and
mediately shared with others.” more smaller companies and
The 1980s. Routine large owner/operators realized the
value-added use of oil analysis
to control operating costs.”
STLE-member Don Se-
drovic, customer service advi-
sor for Finning Canada, says,
“Early in my career (around
1980), I was an apprentice
heavy-duty mechanic for a
large coal mining company.
There were no reliability or
condition monitoring depart-
ments back then; the mainte-
nance team may have had one
engineer, if any. Oil analysis was
the new thing in our area, and
sample results were often re-
turned to clerks or planners to
decide if action was needed. It
was hit and miss at best.”
The 1990s. Parallel tech-
© Can Stock Photo / jgroup
niques such as analytical fer-
rography allowed more com-
prehensive inspection, often
including some form of metal-
lurgy. Analytical ferrography
also crossed the five-micron
particle threshold and opened
WWW.STLE.ORG
the door for preventive and pre-
dictive maintenance.
“As a field mechanic in the
late 1990s I was exposed to
the concept of improving oil
cleanliness via the application
of contamination control tools
and processes,” Sedrovic says.
“This was when I first saw por-
table particle counting and kid-
ney looping at work down on
the shop floor. At first we only
looked at bulk storage systems,
but before long we were con-
necting to machines and taking
live samples of hydraulic and
powertrain fluids. Most impor-
tant to me was the fact that you
could see the particle numbers
drop as the oil was filtered over
time. It was visible evidence
that the system was working as
it should. This tied the technol-
ogy to the work!”
2000s and beyond. More
exotic testing such as scanning
electron microscopy came into
being. Today’s oil analysis pro-
gram is a tried and true suite
that includes wear metals, con-
tamination and degradation
tests, general particulate analy-
sis and wear particulate analy-
sis. Many of these technologies
are now addressed in ASTM
standards.
Matt McMahon, senior data
analyst for TestOil, says, “Some
hallmarks of a successful oil
analysis technology would
be good repeatability of data,
ability to run the test on many
different products with mean-
ingful results and acceptable
costs. I believe having the tech-
nology covered under ASTM
standards helps, since custom-
ers can be assured that the
method/technology has been
documented/vetted. Over the
years we’ve added numerous
tests to our lineup.
“I think the most significant
area of coverage is in the realm
of varnish testing,” McMahon
WWW.STLE.ORG
adds. “Before that point I would
occasionally receive phone
calls from customers mention-
ing that they had a varnish
issue, but the traditional oil
analysis tests were not in alarm.
With the addition of tests such
as ultracentrifuge, membrane
patch colorimetry and RULER,
we have a lot more tools to
© Can Stock Photo / jabiru
work with in order to find the
root cause of varnish issues.”
All of this is paving the way
for sensor technology.
“The next generation of oil
analysis equipment reliability
Oil analysis in the Army tools, I believe, will be elec-
tronic live sensors monitoring
The Army Oil Analysis Program (AOAP) is a wear particles in the oil path
maintenance tool that provides diagnostic services flow on the component—giving
to the Army and other armed services worldwide. wear particle size, amounts and
Ironically AOAP began in 1961 after several defective types,” Goll says. “You know
Army helicopter transmissions were detected by exactly when to change the oil
an existing Navy oil analysis laboratory through oil based on condition. This of-
analysis. fers the opportunity to prevent
The Army recognized that oil analysis could be a machine failures as well as to
valuable maintenance diagnostic tool, so it opened prolong maintenance and oil
its first oil analysis laboratory at Fort Rucker, Ala., in change intervals by means of
September 1961 to provide support for its expanding appropriate measures.”
aeronautical fleet. On the laboratory’s first day of Gay concurs, “The future
operation, a defective aircraft engine was identified of oil analysis ultimately will be
through spectrometric wear metal analysis. inline detectors for oil condi-
Initially AOAP was all about readiness to ensure that tion, vibration and temperature
equipment was ready to be deployed to any location in data fed to a software program
the world. that evaluates the inputted
Between 1961 and 1975, oil analysis was used data, determines what abnor-
exclusively to monitor aeronautical components. In 1975 mal condition exists, informs
AOAP’s capabilities were expanded to include ground maintenance management and
combat equipment. The program’s expansion to ground sends a work order to correct
equipment meant that AOAP also would need to perform the condition detected.”
analytical tests capable of determining lubricant
condition. In 1977 tactical and wheeled vehicles were Sensors: The bridge
added to AOAP’s workload, with other Army systems to the future
including locomotive, construction, materials handling, Systematic improvement and
support and generator end-item components. weight and size reductions in
Today this equipment is monitored by 25 AOAP the instruments used for analy-
laboratories (23 fixed facilities and two mobile labs) and sis has been gradual, but sen-
joint laboratories worldwide. Together, the labs analyze sor technology would not be
more than 1.1 million samples per year, recommending possible without it. Sensors are
services and maintenance. The Army estimates that essentially the miniaturization
cost savings total millions of dollars annually in of bench-top instrumentation
equipment maintenance, replacement of internal oil- with few or no moving parts.
wetted components and labor and materials costs.3 Sensors are being designed to
overcome the traditional obsta-
cles to offline oil analysis such
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 51
Q FEATURE ARTICLE
as time, comprehensiveness,
continuity, contamination and
eventually cost.
The first popular sensor was
a small, portable dielectric con-
stant device modeled after larg-
er units used in transformer oil
testing. Like the first analytical
instruments used for oil analy-
sis, sensors initially had prob-
lems with sensitivity, accuracy,
dependability and verification.
Today’s embedded sen-
sors emit dielectric strength
readings revealing small dif-
ferences that can be observed
and correlated to oil properties.
They address viscosity, water,
particle count and ferrous de-
bris. However, additive deple-
tion, fuel and most metal and
nonmetallic contaminants can-
not be differentiated just from
the sensor’s output. Labs are
still needed to provide testing
to supplement sensor obser-
vations. On the horizon is the
ability to detect complex differ-
entiation of particles in terms of
metallurgy, shape and quantity.
The major hurdles to wide-
spread adoption of sensors are
capabilities and cost. However,
sophisticated sensor systems are
already cost-justified for expen-
sive and/or difficult to access
machinery such as commercial
aircraft, spacecraft, large marine
vessels and wind turbines.
Right now, there are two
types of sensors being devel-
oped: real time and near real
time.
• Real-time sensors continu-
ally monitor the state of lu-
bricants. They use a variety
of techniques to determine
lubricant condition and are
placed either directly in the
system flow or in a flow
branch. They can be con-
nected directly to moni-
toring systems to allow for
continuous real-time moni-
toring and diagnostics.
52 • APRIL 2018
• Near real-time sensors
bring laboratory proce-
dures onsite to allow for
quicker response time.
Some near real-time sys-
tems still require oil sam-
pling. The advantage is that
tests only take a matter of
minutes to complete. Some
near real-time systems can
be connected to monitoring
systems for lubricant diag-
nostics and prognostics.
At some point in the near
future, OEMs will routinely in-
stall sensors or mechanisms for
aftermarket retrofit on all equip-
ment that leaves their facility.
Bryan Debshaw, CEO of
POLARIS Laboratories, says,
“Combined with Internet of
Things (IoT) 4 connectivity,
these sensors can trigger alerts
quickly and prevent further
damage. While that sensor
technology isn’t able to repli-
cate the fluid quality evaluation
that comes with a full suite of
laboratory testing, it will alert
users to rapidly progressing
failures and prompt further in-
vestigation (such as fluid analy-
sis). Linking integrated technol-
ogy to data results collected by
the laboratory via IoT will al-
low data analysts to eliminate
guesswork, confirm suspicions
and make more precise recom-
mendations than what is pos-
sible today.”
The future
Once certain aspects of analysis
become sufficiently miniatur-
ized and cost-effective to sup-
port sensors, the following sub-
stitutions for laboratory testing
may take place: soot, water, fuel
dilution, oxidation, nitration,
contamination, viscosity, par-
ticle count, additive depletion
and ferrous debris. Experts say
it may be more than 10 years
before this happens.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
In the future, oil analysis
labs will increasingly special-
ize in areas where sensors fall
short. For example, some appli-
cations such as gearboxes will
not be candidates for sensors
anytime in the near future, as
will anything that requires spec-
trometric or microscopic metal
analysis. Diesel engines where
high heat, vibration and soot
in the oil make it
impossible for sen-
In the 1960s
sors to get an opti-
cal field through the
demand
diesel engine oil, are increased
also not candidates for more
for sensors. Oil anal- expeditious
ysis labs will provide report
a key role in verify-
processing.
ing sensor data and
developing more
sophisticated tests—many of
which can never be performed
by sensors.
“Technology shouldn’t be
added just to stay on the cutting
edge,” Debshaw says. “It has to
have a purpose and add value
to the maintenance program.
That’s the standard for new
technology: Are the benefits
of adopting new technology
worth the work of acclimating
your team to the new process?
Additional hurdles include pro-
viding a universal user experi-
ence and an intuitive interface.
Apps are great examples of this.
They don’t come with owners’
manuals, so they have to be
able to be picked up easily and
comfortable to use every day.
In order for technology to be
successful and adaptable, this
requires behind-the-scenes
support to maintain the system
so it stays current and contin-
ues to meet user needs and ex-
pectations.”
McMahon says, “I think the
primary factor that will affect
the future of oil analysis will be embed it in your workplace,
continued advances in com-
puter technology—anything
from increased use of handheld
devices to track samples and
results to increased computing
power for advanced analysis
and data mining. Handheld de-
vices just continue to get small-
er and smaller while continuing
to increase in capability.”
Elzinga believes condition
monitoring will become signifi-
cantly more comprehensive.
“I think oil sample
analysis has always
had a high degree
of acceptance, but
how the sample
was taken from the
machine has been
questioned at times.
Going forward, oil
analysis will be part
of everyday action-
able information. The oil analy-
sis could be on the machine and
continuously monitored for re-
al-time analysis and exception
reports. It also can be tied into
other events or conditions that
may require attention such as
electrical or mechanical faults
or issues as well as operational
events. This type of oil analysis
will simply make better use of
infrastructure including opera-
tions, service and procurement.
It also will allow time to ensure
that parts, bay space and man-
power for repairs are available.”
In the end
Sedrovic concludes, “My last
thought on technology is this—
please remember that technol-
ogy is a tool; it still requires the
mind, heart, effort, intuition
and vision of a person to do the
work of integrating it into the
business. Without the people,
the technology will stagnate
and plateau quickly. Select your
technology, do the work to un-
derstand it and get good at it,
challenge the people to use it
and improve it.”
WWW.STLE.ORG
Q FEATURE ARTICLE
Adds Gay: “Overall the
greatest advancement in this
industry has been the increase
in knowledge about fluid test-
ing and use of the data obtained
from the analysis. We used to
spend more time explaining
what we were doing and why,
including what the testing
means and how to read the re-
ports, than using our abilities to
do the task we were supposed
to do. STLE and its members
have played an important part
in tribology education.”
Jeanna Van Rensselar heads
her own communication/public
relations firm, Smart PR
Communications, in Naperville,
Ill. You can reach her at
jeanna@smartprcommuni-
cations.com.
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REFERENCES
1. Portions of information in this section are from the following sources:
• WearCheck Technical Bulletin: Issue 18 - Conditioning Monitoring, Oil Analysis & More. Available at
https://wearcheck.com/virtual_directories/Literature/Techdoc/WZA017.htm.
• History of Oil Analysis, WearCheck. Available at https://wearcheck.com/about/history.php.
• Johnson, M. (2007), “Oil Analysis Part I: Past, Present & Future,” TLT, 63 (5), pp. 32-39.
• Johnson, M. (2007), “Oil Analysis Part II: Past, Present & Future,” TLT, 63 (6), pp. 32-39.
• The History of Oil Analysis, by Jack Poley. Available at www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1113/
history-of-oil-analysis.
• Oil analysis, from Wikipedia. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_analysis.
• Isel: A Brief History of Lubrication. Available at https://iselinc.com/technology/brief-history-lubri-
cation/.
• Engineering Maintenance Solutions: The History of Oil Analysis. Available at www.engineeringmainte-
nance.info/lubrication-mainmenu-112/878-the-history-of-oil-analysis-or-why-we-have-sen-
sors-by-jack-poley-kittiwake-developments-kittiw156.
2. The History of Oil Analysis, by Jack Poley. Available at www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1113/
history-of-oil-analysis.
3. From Transforming Oil Analysis by Captain Daniel A. Jensen. Available at www.alu.army.mil/alog/
issues/julaug04/army_oil.html.
4. IoT is the connection between embedded computing devices (such as sensors) to the Internet enabling these
devices to send and receive data.
10 Reasons you
should do it NOW!
1. Reduce subjectivity in timing
measurement
2. Eliminate impact of operator-to-
operator variability
3. Decrease mathematical errors
4. Enable unattended operation
5. Make better use of operator skills
6. Shorten time spent on sample
processing and testing
7. Reduce calibration costs
8. Lessen consumable usage and
disposal cost
9. Improve lab safety
10. Increase traceability and
reporting options
2139 High Tech Road • State College • PA • 16803
814-353-8000 • 800-676-6232 • Fax 814-353-8007
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 53
2016 TFC HIGHLIGHTS

For the benefit of our readers involved in tribology research, TLT is publishing
abstracts of the best papers presented at the 2016 Tribology Frontiers Conference.
Registration for the 2018 TFC opens in May. Until then, you can find 2018 updates
and program information at www.stle.org. Co-sponsored by ASME Tribology Division.

Effect of Hydrogen and Oxygen Partial Pressure on the Tribochemistry

of Silicon Oxide-Containing Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon
F. Mangolinia, K.D. Koshiganb,*, M.H. Van Benthemc, J.A. Ohlhausenc, J.B. McClimond, J. Hilberte, J. Fontaineb, R.W. Carpicke

a
Institute of Functional Surfaces, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
b
Laboratoire de Tribologie et Dynamique des Systèmes, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 69134, Ecully cedex, France
c
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA
d
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
e
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
*
Present address: Functional Coatings and Surface Engineering Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Montréal, QC, Canada

Silicon oxide-containing hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-
C:H:Si:O) is of interest for advanced tribo-mechanical applications
as it exhibits good tribological performance across a broader range
of environments compared to hydrogenated amorphous carbon and
higher thermo-oxidative stability. However, the scientific basis for
this improved behavior is not fully established. In this work, we per-
formed in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic measurements and
ex situ imaging near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS)
spectroscopic analyses to develop a fundamental understanding of
the chemical changes and structural transformations occurring in
the near-surface region of a-C:H:Si:O when sliding against steel in
different environments (from high vacuum to controlled hydrogen
and oxygen pressures). The outcomes of this research provide new
insights into the interrelationship between tribological response,
structural and chemical surface modifications and environmental
conditions for a-C:H:Si:O.

54 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 Technical Education. Career Development.
International Networking.

73rd STLE Annual Meeting 2018 TECHNICAL TRACKS

& Exhibition
• Biotribology
May 20-24, 2018
• Commercial Marketing Forum
Minneapolis Convention Center (Purchased time slots only)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
• Condition Monitoring
• Contact Mechanics (new track)
• Engine and Drive Train
• Environmentally Friendly Fluids
• Fluid Film Bearings
• Fluid Film Bearings with
Engineered Surfaces.
Fluid Film & Surface
Engineering Joint Session.
• Gears
• Grease
• Lubrication Fundamentals
• Materials Tribology (including
Solid Lubricants and Ceramics
and Composites)
• Tribochemistry - Materials
Tribology and Nanotribology
Joint Session

Whether you work in the field or lab—in industry, academia or • Metalworking Fluids
government—STLE’s Annual Meeting has programming designed • Nanotribology
specifically for you. Please join 1,600 of your peers from around • Nonferrous Metals
the globe for five unique days of technical training and industry
• Power Generation
education that could change your career.
• Rolling Element Bearings
Program Highlights: • Seals
500 Technical Presentations • 12 Lubrication-specific Education • Seals Technology Review
Courses • 100-exhibitor Trade Show • Commercial Marketing Forum
• Surface Engineering (including
• Business Networking • International Audience
Hard Coatings)
Register now! • Synthetic and Hydraulic
Log on to www.stle.org to register for the meeting and make Lubricants
your sleeping room reservation at the Hilton Minneapolis (HQ) • Tribotesting
& Hyatt Regency Minneapolis hotels. • Wear
Early Birds! Register by April 18 and save $100 on your meeting fee. • Wind Turbine Tribology.

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068
info@stle.org, www.stle.org, 847-825-5536 • Follow us on #STLE2018
PEERREVIEWED

Wear Rate Prognosis

Through Particle Size Distribution
Alan Beerbower (Member, ASLE)
University of California at San Diego
La Jolla, California 92093

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT HISTORY

Diagnosis of wear regime can be made by examination of the wear particles in terms Presented at the 35th Annual
of the number or weight fraction in each size range. Consideration of the alternatives Meeting in Anaheim, California,
leads to the conclusion that Weibull plot by weight (Rosin-Rammler) is the most use- May 5-8, 1980
ful. Application of this diagnosis to simplified wear rate equations can result in more
meaningful prognosis of life expectancy. The relations to the more familiar SOAP, Fer-
rograph and chip detector methods are explored.

EDITOR’S NOTE: INTRODUCTION DATA COLLECTION

The core concept of
comparing spectrometric
analysis, particle counting,
chip detectors and
Ferrography is an issue
facing end-users today, yet
this is not a recent issue. This
month’s Editor’s Choice paper
could be described as both a
“blast from the past” and an
“oldie but a goodie.” Though
it is based on a presentation
from nearly 40 years ago,
the data contained within is
still quite relevant. Many of
the equations presented here
are worth revisiting—but
should be considered within
their context—as subsequent
studies have clarified, refined
or qualified them over the
intervening years.
Evan Zabawski, CLS
Editor
The ability to predict life expectancy of ma-
chines by examination of wear particles is well
established, but it is still so new that we have
not yet developed our own vocabulary to go
with it. We tend to draw on the medical pro-
fession for the needed words, two of which
should be kept clearly in mind:
Diagnosis—the act of recognizing the pres-
ence of disease and deciding as to its character.
Prognosis—the act of foretelling the course
and termination of a disease.
It is evident that high-quality prognosis
depends on successful diagnosis. The latter is
itself a two-step process, involving first data
collection and then interpretation of the data,
Modern methods of collection are so effective
that most of the prognostic failures can be fair-
ly blamed on inadequate interpretation. The
main purpose of this paper is to aid in clari-
fying that part of ’ the process, specifically re-
lating the particle size distribution to the wear
regime.
The history of diagnostic tools predates even
the engine thermometer, but the scope of the
present paper is limited to examination of the
wear debris. It was only recently realized that
this contains a gold mine of information, some
of which is outlined in Table 1. However, many
tools are now available (l), (2). This paper will
discuss only those which provide some sort of
estimate of size distribution.
Examples are:
Microscopic counting and sizing (3)
Automatic particle counter (APC) (1), (2)
Ferrograph, analytical and DR (4), (5)
Microscopy involves collecting the particles,
typically on a membrane filter, then scanning
all or a known fraction of them with a reticule
eyepiece to count while classifying them into
standard size ranges. It has long been used
for industrial hygiene, almost as long for hy-
draulic system diagnosis, but is rapidly being
displaced by the APCs. A variation, important
for this paper, is to take a microphotograph of
known scale, and do the counting and sizing

56 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

NOMENCLATURE P(x) = probability of particle being diameter x
R = equivalent radius of contact area
AL = optical density of large particles on Ferrograph U = relative velocity of surfaces
AS = optical density of small particles on Ferrograph V = wear volume, μm3
C = geometry factor in film thickness equation x = particle diameter, μm (with subscripts, mean diameter
D = composite surface roughness from two roughnesses for various equations)
D1and D2, μm Y = weight percent of particles smaller than diameter x
E = composite elastic modulus from two surfaces, MPa z = exponent in the corrosive wear equation
F(x) = fraction of particles larger than diameter x α = pressure-viscosity coefficient, GPa-1
IS = severity of wear index γ = minimum particle diameter in Weibull equation, μm
K = specific wear rate ξ = film thickness in contact area, μm
k = size parameter in Rosin-Rammler equation d0 = Viscosity at atmospheric pressure, mPa·s
n = slope parameter in Rosin-Rammler equation σ = standard deviation of distribution
m = slope parameter in log-squared equation σg = geometric standard deviation in log-normal equation
N = number of particles larger than diameter x Λ = specific film thickness
Pm = penetration hardness of softer surface, MPa β = slope parameter in Weibull equation

Table 1. Information Available in Wear Particles about, the same dose of smaller ones. These optical densities are
a summation of the areas of the particles in that zone, the sus-
Information Questions Answered Appropriate Tools* pension being diluted to avoid overlapping. Thus, the results are
What parts are comparable with those of microscopy which also measures the
Composition SOAP
wearing? area of the particle laid flat, but not quite with the APC which
How far have they measures the area of the tumbling particle. The two readings are
Total weight/volume APC, CD, FG, SOAP
gone? called AL for “large” and AS for “small,” and are combined into a
Has the wear mode severity of wear index:
Rate of wear All, on time schedule
changed?
What is the wear IS = A2L - A2S [1]
Particle shape FG
mode?
Is there bimodal
Size distribution APC, FG
wear? WEAR REGIMES
*APC = Automatic Particle Counter In tribology, the word for disease is WEAR. Before prognosis
CD = Chip Detector became feasible, it was customary to classify wear rate mere-
FG = Ferrograph
SOAP = Spectrometric Oil Analysis Program ly as mild or severe. That is reminiscent of the Army “triage”
classification of battle casualties as Trivial, Treatable or Termi-
nal—which is quite satisfactory to statisticians, but less so to the
patients with borderline conditions. Beerbower (1), (2) under-
on it. The APCs come in several versions, but all function by took to classify wear regimes according to the mechanisms of
passing a suspension of the particles through a narrow throat particle formation, each associated with a wear rate prognosis.
where each one is sized and counted by optical or electrical Notes on morphology of particles and scars were also provided.
means, and the count stored in its size range register. Reda (4) cited several other classifications, and then devised his
The Ferrograph passes the suspension across a slide resting own based on the particle and scar descriptions. His notes on
in a high-gradient magnetic field, which serves to sort the par- wear rate were essentially by the triage system.
ticles by size and iron content. They are then examined under a Both systems are relatable to one Beerbower had proposed
bichromatic illumination microscope, which distinguishes be- earlier (6) in which the wear rate was generalized by means of
tween the opaque metal chips and translucent nonmetals. This the Archard (7) wear equation
examination is mainly for morphology, as the display is in too
narrow a band for counting and sizing. For size distribution es- V = KdW/Pm [2]
timation, the optical densities are measured at the entry point
and at another about 5 mm downstream. The DR instrument where K is the specific wear rate, d the distance traveled, W the
does this in a disposable plastic tube rather than on a glass slide, load and Pm the penetration hardness of the softer material. (K is
hence the abbreviation DR for “Direct Reading.” The entry point numerically equal to 1/3 of the “Archard wear constant” quoted
collects all the particle larger than 15 μm, and both points collect in older literature). Most of the other tribological parameters

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 57

Q PEERREVIEWED

were included in the specific film thickness defined by Tallian
(8):
Λ = ξ/D
where ξ is the elastohydrodynamic film thickness. According to
Dowson (9)
ξ = C(doU)0.7_0.6R0.43/E 0.03W 0.13
where do is viscosity at atmospheric pressure, U is velocity, α
the pressure-viscosity coefficient, R the equivalent radius and E
the composite elastic modulus of the two surfaces. C is 2.65 for
roller bearings, 1.6 for gears and 0.88L0.13 for journal bearings
of length L.
D is the composite roughness of the surfaces, expressed as
—
D = √D12 + D22
where D1 and D2 are the root-mean-square (rms) roughnesses
of the two surfaces, or
D = 0.90(D1 + D2)
if D1 and D2 are center-line-average (CLA) values. If they are
peak-to-valley (PTV) values, the constant in Eq. [5a] varies
from 0.1 to 0.22 depending on the type of finishing used. For
ground surfaces, 0.22 is best according to Tarasov (10).
In the proposed system, any wear regime could be defined
by characteristic values of K and Λ. This seems plausible be-
cause Eq. [3] provides a basis for estimating what fractions of
the asperities are undergoing no strain, elastic strain and plastic
strain under working conditions. Specifically, at Λ = 1, about
50 percent of the asperities will be in plastic strain, while at Λ =
4.5 with ground surfaces only a minor proportion will undergo
[3] even elastic strain. These ratios have been verified in a general
way for rolling contacts by Tallian (7) and for sliding ones by
Ocvirk (11) and Jones (12).
It is possible to combine all three of these classification sys-
tems, as shown in Table 2. The specific wear rates shown are
[4] based on steel-to-steel, as are the Λ values for transition from
regime 2 to 3, and from 3 to 6. Other metallurgies require other
numerical values, and some soft metals will extrude rather than
scuff against steel. Extreme pressure additives will also require
quite a different treatment in regime 6.
Regime 1, named “zero-wear” by Bayer (13), actually has
two parts. If Λ is lower than about 2.5, the duration is so short
that most experimenters miss it completely, and the transition
is to Regime 3. However, at values above 2.5 (as is almost always
[5] the case in rolling element bearings) the prefatigue period may
last for many years, and transition is to Regime 2.
Regime 2 is generally recognized, but Regime 3 is more con-
troversial. It was widely considered in the 1950s and 1960s to
be adhesive wear, like a mild form of scuffing. Beerbower pro-
[5a] posed that low-cycle fatigue was a more appropriate descrip-
tion (1). This refers to the kind of fatigue in which the cyclic
strain exceeds the elastic limit, so that cracks are initiated al-
most at once and the time to failure depends on the propagation
rate. This typically is less than 50,000 cycles, in contrast with
high-cycle fatigue where the elastic limit is not exceeded; life
is dependent mainly on the crack initiation rate and the cycles
to failure may be as high as 108. Halling (14) was able to derive
a low-cycle wear rate model which has all the good points of
the Archard adhesive model but a much firmer foundation. The

Table 2. Wear Regimes—Steel on Steel

Wear Particles

Specific Film Reda (4) Specific Wear Rate

Names Shape Diameter (μm) Typical Scars
Thickness Λ Regime (K)

Hydrodynamic 4.5 None None – None <10-8

Elastohydrodynamic Zero-Wear Molecular size, <5 Unchanged

1.5 to 4..5 1 <10-7
Prefatigue A few loose tops 5-15 Polished
Shear-mixed
Contact Fatigue, High-Cycle Grains (sliding)
2.5 to 3.5 <15 2 smooth layer 10-1 to 10-7
Fatigue Spheres (rolling)
Pits on gear
Adhesive Wear, High-Transfer, Flat metal flakes, Plowed,
1.0 to 2.5 <150 3 10-1 to 10-5
Delamination, Low-Cycle Fatigue bits of wire Plastic flow cracks
Severely plowed, 3 x 10-1 to
Scuffing 0.5 to 1.0 Flakes <1000 6
Smeared 3 x 10-3
Corrosive Wear (Oxygen-rich,
1.5 to 4.0 Red oxide flakes <150 4 Plowed, oxidized 10-3 to 10-5
Cool and Moist)
Corrosive Wear (Oxygen-rich,
1.5 to 4.0 Black oxide flakes <150 5 Plowed, oxidized 10-3 to 10-5
Hot and Dry)

Abrasive Wear 1.0 to 3.0 Flakes, chips, curls <25 – Ground, Scratched 10-1 to 10-5

58 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

term high-transfer was coined by Bayer (13) because of the very
evident color change of other alloys rubbing on brass. The term
“delamination” is due to Suh (15), and is descriptive of the lamil-
lar shape of particle.
Corrosive wear has been adequately described elsewhere (1),
(2), (4), (6) and little need be added to what is said in Table 2.
However, a reminder is in order that extreme-pressure additives
can cause corrosive wear. Their dramatic ability to carry loads
that reduce Λ to 0.5 or less is due to the fact that they attack
the metal chemically and the resulting sulfide, chloride or phos-
phate becomes the solid film lubricant, formed in situ. However,
this is a sacrificial coating to be renewed from the metal itself.
Abrasive wear also requires mention of a special case. The
last line in Table 2 covers both the classic cases of attached (2-
body) and detached (3-body) abrasive particles. However, there
is a third effect of suspended particles, recently discussed by
Tallian (16), (17) in which a particle of diameter larger than ξ
causes a dent while passing through the loaded zone. This rais-
es the local stress around the dent, and accelerates the onset of
high-cycle failure. Thus, very fine filtration has a dramatic effect
not directly related to abrasion.
METHODS FOR PARTICLE COUNT ANALYSIS
The usual first step when a particle size distribution has been
collected is to plot it for display and comparison. A simple his-
togram is easy but not very rewarding; it is far better to use a
mathematical function which displays the data as a straight
line plot on nonlinear scales. This has several advantages; it is a
quick check on accuracy, provides a handy means for interpo-
lating missing points and permits storing the whole distribution
as just two parameters—which can be compared at leisure with
other data. The first particle workers turned to the Gaussian
normal distribution, which is surely the most scientific possible.
Despite its success in other fields, there was little or no success
on particles with
1
P(x) = _ 2 2
— exp( – (x – x0) /2σ ) [6]
σ√2π
where P(x) is the probability (i.e., fraction) of particles having
diameter = x. x0 is the mean diameter and σ is the standarcl de-
viation (related to the slope).
This failure led to development of the log-normal distribu-
tion as described by Irani (18), in which ln x replaces x. The
fraction larger than x is
1
F(x) = _ 2 2
— exp( – (ln(x/xg) )/2(ln σg) ) [7]
ln σ√2π
which is based on a model for growth (or dissolution) kinetics
WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
rather than the coin-toss probability of Eq. [6]. In this, xg is the
geometric mean diameter, and σg the geometric standard devi-
ation. Like σ, it serves as a slope, but differs in that σg is dimen-
sionless. Graph paper based on Eq. [7] is widely available, and
serves well for many other statistical applications.
The filtration experts found Eq. [7] too cumbersome to use,
and simplified it by assuming that xg was very close to 1 μm.
Taking the logarithms of both sides and combining some con-
stants gave the log-squared equation
log N = m(log2x1 – log2x) [8]
where N is the number of particles larger than x, m is the slope
and x1 is the intercept on the c = 1 axis of the line. The latter has
the very interesting property of being the diameter of the largest
particle present in a given sample. Thus, measuring the size of a
SINGLE PARTICLE can predict the entire distribution (in prin-
ciple) if the slope is known. This is usually taken as 0.926, based
on a wide variety of naturally occurring particles. However, Eq.
[8] has the disturbing implication of a vast population of parti-
cles smaller than 1 μm, which is not true.
In a series of papers between 1939 and 1951, Weibull (19)
used another type of distribution function to correlate data on
the size of fly ash particles, as well as the failure data for which
he is famous. The form is
F(x) = 1 – exp( – ( (x – γ)/xc )β) [9]
where xc is the characteristic diameter at F(x) = 63.21 percent
(relatable to x1), β is a slope parameter relatable to m, and y is
the minimum size of particle. Thus, γ can be used to cut off
the small end of the distribution at whatever value gives the
straightest line, avoiding the logical inconsistency of Eq. [8].
Harris (20) has taken considerable pains, in a survey of func-
tions used by the mining engineers to correlate size reduction pro-
cesses, to emphasize the fact that their favorite Rosin-Rammler
equation is a special form of the Weibull. It is equal to the weight
percentage smaller than x, and tacitly assumes γ = 0:
Y = 100(1 – exp(–(x/k)n) ) [10]
where n is the slope and k is the size parameter equal to x when
Y = 63.21 percent.
In contrast to the growth kinetics basis of the log-normal,
the Weibull is based on a model of failure at the weakest link.
Apparently Rosin and Rammler did not have this in mind, and
developed their version empirically. It seems particularly appro-
priate to apply these functions based on breakage to the study of
wear particle formation.
ANALYSIS OF PARTICLE COUNT DATA
As a matter of expedience, only data already published was an-
alyzed. Most of the authors had not made any attempt to apply
the above functions. Beerbower (1), (2) showed the results of two
APRIL 2018 • 59
Q PEERREVIEWED

experiments on log-squared paper, and also expressed the opin-
ion that Weibull, or Rosin-Rammler, plots should be worth inves-
tigating (2). Either on the basis of that or independently, Pocock
(21) did analyze his data on 10 sequential samples from an exper-
iment using what he called the Rosin-Rammler equation. Actu-
ally, it was a conjugate of Eq. [9] equal to (1 – F(x)), the number
fraction smaller than x, with γ = 2 μm His data were reanalyzed
along with the rest to assure uniformity. Soda (22) fitted an ex-
ponential curve to the tops of his histograms, and also used this
model as described above for Eq. [8] to estimate the whole distri-
bution from a few measurements on the largest particles.
The data sources are shown in Table 3 by reference numbers.
Despite the diverse methods of measurement, it was possible to
make reasonably consistent tabulations of the data. Conversion
from and to weight fraction was made by taking particle weight
as proportional to x a3, where xa, is the arithmetic mean of the
size range limits. Even though x really is an arbitrarily simplified
expression of the three axes of a quasi-ellipsoidal particle, and
not all data collectors see these the same way, the deviation from
reality is not significant compared to the repeatability of “dupli-
cate” samples. The implicit assumption that density and shape
are uniform throughout the distribution has been questioned,
but again this problem is minor.
To keep the amount of analysis within bounds, no attempt
was made to use Eq. [6]. Similarly, no attempt was made to
improve the fitting of Eq. [9] by optimizing γ. Though there is
reason to believe (19), (21) that γ = 2 might have been help-
ful, it was left at 0 for comparison with the other equations. On
the other hand, Eq. [7] was run through on both number and
weight, partly as a check on the arithmetic of conversion. The
same value of σg should result either way. Only the xg values by
weight from Eq. [7] are reported in Table 3.
The analysis, including 7 samples of Pocock’s not listed in
Table 3, took 120 plots on three kinds of special paper. Only a
few examples are shown in Figure 1. They were plotted on spe-
cial paper kindly provided by Harris (20) which is good for both
Eq. [9] and [10]. The following brief accounts are designed to
serve as a supplement to Table 3 and Figure 1.
(1) Beerbower showed ball-on-cylinder data run under con-
ditions chosen to produce low-cycle fatigue and scuffing parti-
cles (see below on the latter).
(21) Pocock took 10 samples from a helicopter gearbox be-
ing run to failure. Sampling was on a schedule but extra samples
were taken whenever the instruments indicated an “event.” Ta-
ble 3 covers start-up, a bearing fatigue event ancl a gear spall;
the other 7 samples are discussed under DR Ferrograph below.
(22) Soda ran a long series of tests with Ni on Ni, Cu on Cu
and Au on Au in air and low vacuum. Microphotographs of 5
sets of particles were measured by the equivalent circle method
(3). Visually, (25)c showed strong bimodality; see the discussion
below for a possible explanation.
(23) Valori ran a twin-disk machine under scoring con-
ditions. Separately, a roller bearing was run to “final failure,”
which is here described as “spalling.” A 75-μm filter in the sys-

Table 3. Analysis of Particle Count Data

Log–Normal [7] Weibull [9] Rosin–Rammler [10]

Log—
Metal Wear Count
Reference xg , μm σg Squared xc , μm β k, μm n
Couple Regime Method
[8]
(1)a Steel/Steel 3 APC 15.5 2.3 Straight 2.0 1.1 2.2 1.4
(1)b Steel/Steel 3+6? APC 9.6 2.0 Straight Curved 12.5 Curved
(21)1 Steel/Steel Run-in APC 1.5 5.3 Curved 0.6 0.7 2.1 0.5
(21)5 Steel/Steel 2/3 APC 4.1 2.7 Curved 0.8 0.8 5.5/8.5 0.6/1.2
(21)8 Steel/Steel Spalling APC 2.4 5.2 Curved 0.8 0.8 3.8 0.6
(22)a Ni/Ni 6 Micro 141 1.4 Straight 110 2.4 165 3.4
(22)b Ni/Ni 6 Photo Curved Curved Curved 430 5.2
(22)c Cu/Cu 3+6? Photo ?/39 6.8/1.4 Bimodal 92/145 0.7/1.3 420/? 1.2/5.2
(22)d Cu/Cu (vac) 6 Photo Curved Curved 295 1.7 560 5.2
(22)e Au/Au 6 Photo 765 1.5 Curved Curved 780 5.2
(23)a Steel/Steel Scoring APC 11.3 1.9 Curved 2.0 0.8 16.5 1.3
(23)b Steel/Steel Spalling APC 125? 17.0 Curved 22.5? 0.6 280 0.5
(24)a Steel/Steel 2 APC 6.9 2.3 Straight 2.1 0.8 13.4 1.3
(24)b Steel/Steel 2 APC 11.3 1.9 Straight Curved 20 2.0
(25) Cu/Cu 3+6? Sieve 123/92 1.8/3.0 Bimodal 8.0 0.9 150 0.7/1.2
(26)a Cu/SiC (180) Abrasive Photo 34.5 1.4 Curved 53 1.8 92 3.7
(26)b C/SiC (320) Abrasive Photo 8.0 1.5 Curved 34 2.7 40 4.6

60 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 1
99.9 –
2 3 5 10 20 30 50 100 200 300 500 1000
–
always preceded by a period of milder wear (6). Hence, it would
be reasonable to classify (1)b as bimodal; the same explanation
99 – –
may well apply to (22)c and (25).
90 – –
There appears to be a relation of regime to slope, and also
to characteristic size, which confirms Pocock’s findings (21), as
80 – –
shown in Table 4 on Page 62. Though three equations are repre-
63.2 – –
sented in the table, the discussion will be limited to Eq. [10]. The
50 – –
regimes are arranged in order of ascending values of its slope
n. Spalling is conspicuous for its low slope, which is in keeping
30 – –
WEIGHT PERCENTAGE <X

with the violence of the process. The slope for scoring is so low
20 – – that it probably relates to plowing rather than scuffing; it must
be remembered that this term is quite ambiguous, and can be
10 – – taken either way. Unfortunately, there is but one set of data. It
was rather disappointing to find no distinction between the two
5– – kinds of fatigue wear, but the data are too few for any final con-
3– – clusion. Even if we count (23)a as low-cycle plowing, there are
2– – only two sets each for low- and high-cycle. On the other hand,
hope for a distinction may have been naive, since the after-ef-
1– – fects of the two kinds are not so very different on a macro scale;
the real diagnostic tool here may be Λ. The very steep slope on
0.5 – – abrasive wear is completely consistent with experience (2). The
even steeper slope for scuffing agrees completely with the classic
0.3 – –
theory of adhesive wear, which calls for monodisperse particles
0.2 – –
(25).
While the theories of wear regimes discussed above are plau-
0.1- -
1 2 3 5 10 20 30 50 100 200 300 500 1000 sible, they are not universally accepted. Furthermore, except for
PARTICLE DIAMETER X, μ m the steep slope of adhesive wear, they do not make very explicit
predictions for n values. However, size reduction theory does,
Low-cycle fatigue (1)a and the predictions appear acceptable to most mining engi-
Scuffing (22)a
Bimodal (22)c
neers. Orr (29) describes three “single-event” fracture process-
Spallation (23)b es. Chipping, essentially the spallation discussed above, is well
Abrasion (26)a studied. His Figure 3, replotted as in Figure 1 here, gives n =
0.514, in gratifying agreement with Table 4. Impact, presumably
Figure 1. Typical Rosin-Rammler plots of wear particle distributions an extreme case of low-cycle fatigue, is well fitted by n = 1.0,
a little lower than found in Table 3. Both those lines are quite
straight except for the very largest particles. Abrasion yields a
tem apparently removed a substantial coarse fraction. curve; a line covering the largest 88 percent has a slope of 2.15,
(24) Dalal ran both ball and roller bearings to “failure,” ap- which increases rapidly if more fines are ignored.
parently just beyond transition from Regime 1 to 2; hence they Whether the differences in n in Table 4 are significant or not
are classed high-cycle. cannot be settled with the available wear particle data. However,
(25) Rabinowicz ran a copper pin on a copper disk for 2 days in a continuous mineral grinding process, a change in n from
to get enough particles for sieve analysis by weight. His histo- 1.3 to 1.6 would appear to be significant. On the other hand,
gram of the raw data shows clear evidence of bimodality; see this difference between similar machines operating on similar
below for a possible explanation. feeds might not be considered significant, but 1.6 to 4.2 certain-
(26) Suh ran copper pins on SiC paper of various grit sizes. ly would be. These statements are based on reading many arti-
Two of his microphotographs were suitable for analysis as de- cles on size reduction and cannot be tied to a specific reference.
scribed above under (22).
The primary criterion for suitability of these equations is ANALYSIS OF DR FERROGRAPH DATA
their ability to linearize all data not known to be bimodal. On Some publications have set up criteria for application of the Se-
this basis, the log-squared Eq. [8] is the worst, failing 10 out verity of Wear Index, Eq. [1], but only Pocock (21) has attempt-
of 15 times, (22)c and (25) being excluded. The log-normal Eq. ed to relate it to APC data. His results were quite encouraging,
[7] and Weibull Eq. [9] are much better, with only 3 fails out of even though he used an out-of-date definition (I = A2L - ALAS).
15. The Rosin-Rammler Eq. [10] failed only once, on (l)b. That These were recalculated by Eq. [1] and compared with σg, β
test was considered a clear case of scuffing when it was run (1), and n. There were some difficulties as gearboxes are inherently
(2) because the data fit well on Eq. [7], but, in fact, scuffing is prone to bimodal wear. It was necessary in some cases to take

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 61

Q PEERREVIEWED

Table 4. Relation of Wear Regime to Distribution Parameters

Regime Slope Parameters Characteristic Size μm References

σg β n xg xc k
Spalling 17.0 0.6 0.5 125 22.5 280 (23)b
Scoring 1.9 0.8 1.3 11.3 2.0 16.5 (23)a
Fatigue 2.1 1.0 1.6 12 2.1 16.8 (1)a, (24)a+b
Abrasion 1.5 1.6 4.2 57 44 66 (26)a+b
Scuffing 1.5 2.0 5.0 76 200 370 (22)all
Ideal Chipping — 0.5 — — — (29)
Ideal Impact — 1.0 — — — (29)
Ideal Abrasion — 2.2+ — — — (29)

the parameters from the first plot and iterate them on a small
computer to resolve differences between the values of σg by
weight and number, and to overcome the difficulty of plotting
for β in the top 15 mm of the paper. Despite these precautions,
only n showed any promise. Four points were discarded for bi-
modality; the remaining 6 were regressed, giving:
IS = 60400 – 23400n [11]
The regression coefficient for Eq. [11] is 0.756, which would
not justify publication were this not such an exploratory effort. It
is presented in the hope that others will respond to this challenge
to confirm, refute or improve this small start. Actually, the rewards
are great and the work is easy since the DR and APC do most of it;
the real problem may lie in the simplistic structure of Eq. [1].
PROGNOSIS BY WEAR RATE
In principle, prognosis could be made in five steps, using the
methods discussed above:
1. Determine the wear regime, by APC or Ferrograph, from
Table 4,
2. Read the appropriate (mean or maximum) K from Table 2,
3. Estimate the wear volume constituting “fatality” from the
design,
4. Use Eq. [2] with W and Pm to calculate the remaining
travel d, and
5. Convert d to lifetime expectancy using the relative velocity.
In reality, the prognosis is seldom that simple. In the first
place, Table 2 leaves a few things unsaid. The diagnosis “pre-
fatigue” involves estimating the zero-wear life by Bayer’s (13)
method, usually for Regime 2 as 3 seldom lasts long enough in
zero-wear to get diagnosed. Abrasive wear raises quite a differ-
ent set of questions, since the wear rate depends on a quasi-equi-
librium of filtration versus wear rate, plus the size and hardness
of the particles from both contamination and wear. Thus, K is
apt to be increasing or decreasing rather than constant. Perhaps
the best prognostic tool here is a 3-μm filter.
The most important regime is 3, and this is also the most
controversial. At this point, that involves wear equations rath-
er than mere names. Bayer (13) long ago took exception to Eq.
[2], and based his prognoses on the idea that fatigue was in-
duced by the maximum stress in the Hertz contact area, while
Archard felt the key was the real contact area of the asperity tips.
As these broaden under load, the real area increases; hence the
stress is W/Pm. The Bayer model shows dependence on contact
geometry, and as wear increases the area, the wear rate tends
to decrease. He showed data to illustrate the reality of this, but
most workers continue to find Eq. [2] more satisfactory. Recent-
ly Haines (27) published considerable data agreeing with Bayer’s
idea of K decreasing as d increased. However, his data did NOT
fit well to Bayer’s equation, and his own equation was so empir-
ically tied to his specific bearing materials that it offers little on
the wide predictive level of Eq. [2]. Now that Halling has put a
fatigue foundation under it, perhaps ways can be found to adjust
the Archard concepts to fit all the data. Finkin (28) has already
extended Hailing’s work in several directions. So far, he did not
find any need for complex exponents such as Haines proposed.
Beerbower (6) tried to analyze corrosive wear data on the ba-
sis of a power function of d in this modified Archard equation:
K = VPm /Wd z [12]
Oxidation theory predicts that z will equal 0.5 for pure cor-
rosive wear since the diffusion rate varies as that power of the
oxide thickness. If the oxygen supply is starved, z can rise as high
as 1.5. Very few data are available for this sort of study; most au-
thors work like Reda (4) who studied particles but not wear rate,
and Haines (27) whose detailed account of wear does not men-
tion particles. What there were in 1972 gave z = 0.5±0.4, with
only a couple of dubious tests going above 1.0. This is scarcely
suitable for prognosis, and is presented mainly as a challenge to
the experimenters to settle this problem.

62 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

CONCLUSIONS
It appears that the study of particle size distributions can, in-
deed, be a valuable diagnostic tool; its value for quantitative
prognosis appears to be limited by the imperfect state of wear
REFERENCES
(1) Beerbower, A., “Spectrometry and Other Analysis Tools for Failure Prog-
nosis,” Lubr. Eng., 32, pp 285-293 (1976).
(2) Beerbower, A., “Mechanical Failure Prognosis Through Oil Debris Mon-
itoring,” USAAVLABS TR74-100, U.S. Army Air Mobility Research and
Development Laboratory, Fort Eustis, VA. 1974 (ADA006190/3G1).
(3) “Microscopical Sizing and Counting Particles from Aerospace Fluids on
Membrane Filters,” ASTM Standard F 312-69, American Society for Testing
and Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
(4) Reda, A. A, Bowen. R. and Westcott, V.C., “Characteristics of Particles
Generated at the Interface Between Sliding Steel Surfaces,” Wear, 34, pp
261-273 (1975).
(5) Anderson, D. P. and Silva, R. S., “The Direct Reading Ferrograph—Design,
Calibration and a Field Application.’’ Lubr. Eng., 35, pp 203-211 (1979).
(6) Beerbower, A., “Boundary Lubrication—Scientific and Technical Applica-
tions Forecast,” Off. Chief of Res. and Dev., Dept. of the Army, 1972 (AD
747 336).
(7) Archard, J. F., “Contact and Rubbing of Flat Surfaces,” J. Appl. Phys., 24,
p. 981 (1953).
(8) Tallian, T. E., “Lubricant Films in Rolling Contact of Rough Surfaces,”
ASLE Trans., 7, p. 109 (1964).
(9) Dowon. D., “Elastohydrodynamics, Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., 182, Part 3A. pp
151-167 (1967-68).
(10) Tarasov, L. P., “Relation of Surface Roughness to Actual Surface Profile,”
Trans. ASME, 67, pp 189-196 (1945).
(11) Ocvirk, F. W. and Dubois, G. B., “Relation of Journal Bearing Performance
to Minimum Oil Film Thickness,” TN 4223, National Aeronautics and
Space Agency, Washington, DC, April 1958.
(12) Jones, W. R., Nagara, H. S., and Winer, W. O.,” Ferrographic Analysis of
Wear Debris Generated in a Sliding Elastohydrodynamic Contact,” ASLE
Trans., 21, pp 181-190 (1978).
(13) Bayer, R. G. et al. “Engineering Model for Wear,” Wear, 34, pp 214-249
(1962).
(14) Halling,. J., “A Contribution to the Theory of Mechanical Wear, Wear, 34,
pp 239-249 (1975).
(15) Suh, N., “The Delamination Theory of Wear.” Wear, 25, p. 111 (1973).
WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
rate theory. The fact that the same set of equations so widely
used for fatigue life is best for wear particle studies is at least
encouraging for the fatigue theory of wear.
(16) Tallian, T. E., “Prediction of Rolling Contact Fatigue Life in Contaminated
Lubricant: Part I—Mathematical Model,” J. Lubr. Tech., 98F, pp 251-257
(1976).
(17) Tallian, T. E., “Prediction of Rolling Contact Fatigue Life in Contaminated
Lubricant: Part II—Experimental,” J. Lubr. Tech., 98E, pp 384-392 (1976).
(18) Irani, R. R. and Callis, C. F., Particle Size: Particle Size: Measurement, In-
terpretation and Application, pp 39-41, John Wiley and Sons, New York,
NY, (1963).
(19) Weibull, W., “A Statistical Distribulion Function of Wide Applicability.”
J. Appl. Mech., 18, pp 293-7 (1951).
(20) Harris, C. C., “The Application of Size Distribution Equations to Multi-
Event Comminution Proccsses,” Trans. SME, 241, pp 346358 (1968).
(21) Pocock, G., “Machinery Health Monitoring and Particle Size Distribution,”
TRIBOLOGY 1978, IME Conf. Publ. 1978-6, London, Paper C41/78.
(22) Soda, N., Kimura, Y. and Tanaka, A., “Wear of Some F.C.C. Metals During
Unlubricated Sliding, Part II: Effects of Normal Load, Sliding Velocity and
Atmospheric Pressure on Wear Fragments.” Wear, 35, pp 531-343 (1975).
(23) Valori, R., “Effectiveness of the Real-Time Ferrograph and Other Oil Mon-
itors as Related to Oil Filtration,” Proc. 26th Meeting of MFPG.SP, 494, Na-
tional Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC. (Sept. 1977). pp 49-72.
(24) Dalal, H. and Senholzi, P., “Characteristics of Wear Particles Generated
During Failure Progression of Rolling Bearings,” ASLE Trans., 20, pp 233-
243 (1977).
(25) Rabinowicz, E., “The Dependence of the Adhesive Wear Coefficient on the
Surface Energy of Adhesion.” WEAR OF MATERIALS 1977, ASME, New
York, NY, (April 1977). pp 36-40.
(26) Suh, N.P., Saka, N. and Sin, H. C., “Effect o f Abrasive Grit Size on Abrasive
Wear,” Progress Report to The Advanced Research Projects Agency DoD,
Contract No. N00014-76-C-0068, Massachusetts Institute of Tech., Cam-
bridge, MA (June 1978), p. 30
(27) Haines, C. E., “Wear Coefficient Relationship to Energy Expenditure Rate
and Rate of Shear (Velocity),” ASLE Trans., 19, pp 125-134 ( 1976).
(28) Finkin, E. F., “An Explanation of the Wear of Metals,” Wear, 47, pp 107-117
(1978).
(29) Orr, C., Jr., “Size Reduction,” Encyclopedia of Chem. Tech., 18, pp 327-338,
Interscience Div., John Wiley and Sons, New York (1969).
APRIL 2018 • 63
Q PEERREVIEWED

DISCUSSION

PETER B. SENHOLZI
Mechanical Technology Incorporated
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Wear debris size distribution, as discussed in this paper, is a very powerful tool
in the assessment of equipment/component wear condition. To date, this tool
has not been fully exploited partially due to the statistical problems addressed with Ken Hope, Ph.D.
by Dr. Beerbower. This discussion will address three aspects of the paper: sta-
tistical assumptions, practical considerations, and philosophical application.
The statistical treatment presented in this paper makes the implicit as- Q:
automotive fuel efficiency, can
With all the talk about more
stringent regulations on
sumption that density and shape are uniform throughout the distribution. It
has been noted from morphological studies of debris generated under vari- Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Synfluid®
ous wear regimes that there exists a marked difference in particle shape over help me get an edge up?
a distribution. Small debris particles (<5 μm) are basically homogeneous in
Yes our Synfluid® PAOs can help!
nature, and of a platelet type. Large debris (>5 μm) particles can vary dras-
tically in shape from perfect spheres to spiral chips. The equiaxial (X 3a) and
A: Friction is a good measure for fuel
efficiency. Lower friction means less work for the
uniform shape assumptions are questionable with respect to actual morpho-
logical considerations. Statistical consequences of this changing shape factor car’s moving parts. A Stribeck curve shows the
must be investigated. traction coefficient as a function of relative speed
When considering the practical assessment of wear debris size distribu- between moving surfaces.
tion, one must consider several important factors. The distribution of debris
in a lubricant system, although not affected by lubrication addition or dele- .09
tion, is very drastically affected by system design, operation, operating envi- .08 5W-30 (Mineral)

 


ronment, and filtration level. For example, the ever-increasing trend toward .07 5W-30 (PAO)



Traction Coefficient
finer filtration will deleteriously truncate the debris distribution present in a .06
lubricant system. These factors must be considered in any debris interpreta- .05
tion. .04
A final practical consideration in the assessment of debris distribution is .03

the validity of the size distribution measuring device. These devices exhibit .02

problems with respect to sensitivity, saturation (physical and electronic), and .01

calibration. Extensive research is being carried out in these areas. 0

1 10 100 1,000 10,000
Dr. Beerbower proposes the utilization of wear debris size distribution as Log of Rolling Speed (mm/s)

a diagnostic and prognostic technique. Although size distribution can con-

tribute to diagnostic and prognostic assessments, an assessment based sole-
ly on distribution is vulnerable. Wear debris composition and morphology
must be considered along with distribution, in order to enhance practical
diagnostic and prognostic assessments. Size distribution can be utilized as
an effective “first line” detection step in a wear assessment process. This is
to say that wear debris size distribution alone, is an effective indicator of a
wear abnormality.
In summary, wear debris distribution is a powerful wear assessment tool
which is very much underutilized. Statistical treatments such as the one dis-
cussed by Dr. Beerbower will serve to foster and enhance utilization of this
tool in all facets of the wear assessment process.
As the graph shows, when comparing the PAO-based
5W-30 oil to a mineral oil-based 5W-30, PAO has
an inherent energy advantage due to the friction
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AUTHOR'S CLOSURE
Mr. Senholzi’s criticisms are certainly to the point, but most of them can be an-
swered with considerable confidence. The variation of shape with particle size is www.synfluid.com synfluid@cpchem.com
well known to the mining engineers. Though they do not have to deal with spi-
Toll Free: 800.231.3260
ral chips, there is typically a gradation from dagger-like large particles through +32 (0) 2 689 1211
conchoidal to blocky at the smallest when grinding glassy minerals. This effect
Product described herein is subject to disclaimers on product’s technical datasheet.
seems to be consistent for any given process and class of materials, so a

64 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

single experimental exponent can be used for a moderate range of
situations. The variations in true particle density occur only with
nonhomogeneous materials such as coal, where the stony phase
resists grinding and appears preferentially in the larger particles.
In tribology, this would be less systematic, but could take various
forms: simultaneous wear of two metals, concave particles, and
organic “surface resin” debris. The first is trivial, since dissimilar
pairs tend to wear on one side only. The other two may be con-
sidered to be systematic, as is the shape factor for each process/
materials group. Admittedly, the amount of data available was in-
adequate for proving this point, since Cu/Cu and Fe/Fe had to be
pooled, along with dry versus lubricated. The exponents in Table
4 are but first approximations of what further experimental work
may be expected to bring.
One of the advantages often cited for the Rosin-Rammler
distribution is its tolerance for truncation, without serious
change in slope (20). Of course, the current trend to 3 μm
filters practically wipes out the distribution unless long-time
counts are taken upstream from the filter. If on-line counting
is not feasible, a high-gradient magnetic plug could be used as
a particle "integrator."
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The question of what an APC will report when presented
with spiral chips is not easily analyzed mathematically. The APC
manufacturers do seem confident of their ability to handle any
nonconcave chips which tumble during flow, since the response
is to an average of the three triaxial projected areas and hence
proportional to particle volume. Elongated particles such as fi-
bers are, as always (3), a special problem; in the APC they tend
to orient along streamlines. ASTM is currently printing up new
Standard Practices (F 322, 328, 649, 650, 651, and 658) for im-
provements in standardizing APCs.
Though the paper may appear to promote size distribution
above other indicators, the author is well aware that it is just
another weapon in our war against wear. If he is to make an ad-
equate prognosis, the tribologist needs ALL the help he can get,
and Mr. Senholzi’s statement is quite correct.
The author wishes to apologize for an oversight in the cap-
tion of Figure 1, where the uppermost line was not identified.
It should be “High-cycle fatigue (24)a.” In addition, the second
line “+ Low-cycle fatigue (1)a” was plotted at ten times the actu-
al particle diameter to avoid running off the edge, and the refer-
ence after Abrasion should be “(26)b.”
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The Ethisphere Institute advances the
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Water displacing and water-emulsifiable
sponsibility and leadership. It has developed
a framework that assesses an organization’s Emulsifier Packages
performance in five categories: ethics and Soluble and semi-synthetic bases
compliance program (35%), corporate citi- For naphthenic and paraffinic base oils
zenship and responsibility (20%), culture of
ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leader-
ship, innovation and reputation (10%).
Metalworking Processing Additives
Corrosion Inhibitors, amides, lubricity additives
Schaeffler Accelerates Transformation
Gelled Calcium Sulfonates
Global automotive and industrial supplier Oil, solvent and water soluble
Schaeffler, based in Herzogenaurach, Ger-
many, announces preliminary key figures
for 2017. The company confirmed the 5.9%
increase in revenue at constant currency
We manufacture it.
previously announced on Jan. 15, which
exceeded the company’s guidance for 2017
of 4%-5%. Total revenue rose to 14.0 bil-
lion euros in 2017 (prior year: 13.3 billion
euros). Fourth-quarter revenue increased
to approximately 3.5 billion euros. This rep-
resents constant currency revenue growth
of 8.5% for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Both of the company’s divisions contrib- ISO 9001-2008
uted to this positive revenue development
in 2017. While the automotive division re- 4302 James P. Cole Boulevard, Flint MI 48505 • (810) 789-8330
ported revenue growth of 5.9% at constant customerservice@Lockhartchem.com • www.Lockhartchem.com
currency, the industrial division’s constant

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 67

Q NEWSMAKERS

Petro-Canada Lubricants Announce

Multi-Year Partnership Extension

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based, Pet-

ro-Canada Lubricants Inc. (PCLI) and Ver-
izon IndyCar Series team Schmidt Peterson
Motorsports (SPM) announce a multi-year

Image from: www.hinchtown.com

Ontario-based Petro-Canada Lubricants has increased its alignment with veteran race car driver and
native Canadian James Hinchcliffe.
anticipates revenue growth of 5%-6% at con-
stant currency and expects to generate an
EBIT margin of between 10.5%-11.5% before
special items.
SONGWON Signs Exclusive
Distributorship with Connell Bros. Co.
Ulsan, South Korea-based, SONGWON
Industrial Co., Ltd., the second-largest
manufacturer of polymer stabilizers in the
world, has signed an exclusive distributor-
ship agreement in India with Connell Broth-
ers, the largest marketer and distributor of
specialty chemicals and ingredients in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Under the agreement, Connell Broth-
ers will exclusively market and distribute
SONGWON’s fuels and lubricant additives
(including aminic, phenolic and phosphite)
throughout India. The agreement also
serves to extend SONGWON’s already strong
presence in India and sets the foundation for
further expansion.
“India is an important region for us and
we are very pleased to have Connell Broth-
ers as our partner for this market,” says Ol-
ivier Keiser, leader BU Lube Additives. “With
their highly qualified and knowledgeable
representatives, unparalleled regional ex-
perience and well-established network, we
are confident that our customers will receive
the highest level of service.”
Tejas Parekh, country manager, India,
says, “We are looking forward to becoming
a partner to SONGWON and to expanding our
offering with its comprehensive high-qual-
ity fuel and lubricant solutions. By adding
SONGWON’s business to our portfolio, we
are strengthening our platform to support
our customers’ growth aspirations.”
Midcontinental Chemical marks 20-Year
Relationship with Chevron Oronite
Olathe, Kan.-based, MidContinental Chemi-
cal Co., Inc., (MCC) is celebrating 20 years
of valued partnership with Chevron Oronite.
MCC began working with Chevron Oronite in
1998, and through an enduring relationship
have experienced steady growth. MCC is
proud to represent Chevron Oronite’s addi-
tive product line in North America, includ-
ing the OLOA®, PARATONE®, OGA® and OFA®
product families.
Since inception in 1994, MCC has focused
on providing high-performance solutions. Its
exceptional product offerings, innovative
programs and specialized services differ-
entiate MCC in the marketplace. MCC works
closely with its suppliers to develop compre-
hensive products to solve the problems of
today and anticipate the needs of tomorrow.
Chevron Oronite is committed to deliver-
ing customer value in areas that MCC fully
embraces: exceptional reliability, enduring
relationships and innovative technology.
Building trusting and mutually beneficial
relationships through collaboration with
business partners is a tremendous part of
its success. The Chevron Ways says, “We are
most successful when our partners succeed
with us.” MCC looks forward to many more
years of collaboration with Chevron Oronite.
extension agreement. In addition to team
partnership, PCLI has increased its align-
ment with SPM’s veteran driver and Ontario,
Canada, native, James Hinchcliffe.
In addition to logo placement on Hinch-
cliffe’s No. 5 Honda Indy car and SPM’s
second full-time entry piloted by fellow Ca-
nadian Robert Wickens in the No. 6, PCLI’s
Research and Development team is work-
ing closely with SPM engineers to integrate
products into operations to assist on and off
the track.
As the official lubricants partner of the
Honda Indy Toronto—Hinchcliffe and Wick-
ens’ hometown race and home to PCLI’s
head office—additional PCLI branding will be
visible on the No. 5 entry and throughout the
track during the race weekend.
“We are excited to join our distributors
and customers, as well as Indy fans in gen-
eral, in cheering on James and the SPM
team again in 2018,” says Mark A. Plake,
president, PCLI. “With an aligned focus on
innovation and excellence, we look forward
to developing new technology opportunities
with SPM that drive winning results.”
SPM’s president, Jon Flack, mirrors
Plake’s excitement saying, “We are thrilled
to have Petro-Canada Lubricants extend and
expand their relationship with Schmidt Pe-
terson Motorsports. It’s tremendous to be
aligned with PCLI, who invest in innovation
every day. We look forward to seeing what
more we are able to accomplish together.”
PROMOTIONS & TRANSITIONS
Schaeffer Names Executive VP
of Operations
Noting his stellar leadership guiding prod-
uct innovations and implementing operat-
ing efficiencies, St. Louis-based Shaeffer
has named STLE-member Jim Carroll to
the newly created position of executive vice
president of operations.
With Schaeffer’s specialized lubricants
for 20 years, Carroll previously served as

68 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

the vice president of technical services. In eration Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. panies and product lines during 20 years
his new role, Carroll will continue to over- Military decorations and awards include with the company,” says Pam Butcher, Pilot
see the company’s product-innovation ini- Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (two awards), Chemical’s president and CEO. “These ac-
tiatives, internal and external lab services, Meritorious Service Medal (three awards) quisitions have been an integral part of Pilot
quality-control and and Combat Action Badge. Chemical’s growth,
field support to the adding value to our
company’s 500 sales Pilot Chemical Names Vice President of customers and sup-
associates, while ex- Corporate Development pliers. Glynn’s new
panding his supervi- role will allow us to
sory responsibilities Cincinnati, Ohio-based, Pilot Chemical Co. leverage his exper-
to include internal announces Glynn Goertzen, president of tise along with the
and external mate- Pilot Chemical subsidiary Liquid Minerals strong foundation
rials management Group Ltd., also has been named vice pres- the company has
and logistics and ident of corporate development for the par- laid over decades,
production as well ent company. positioning Pilot for
as manufacturing Jim Carroll In this role, Goertzen and his team will future growth and Glynn Goertzen
engineering for the be responsible for identifying and evaluat- expansion.”
production plant. ing new strategic opportunities, partner- Goertzen first joined Pilot Chemical in
Carroll is a retired colonel in the U.S. ships and acquisitions that align with Pilot 1998, then advanced through several posi-
Army and a highly-decorated combat veter- Chemical’s business operations and growth tions, including vice president of commer-
an. He served in Operation Desert Shield/ initiatives. cial, where he managed the company’s sales,
Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and “Glynn has played an important role in marketing, customer service, integrated
Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Op- integrating and operating acquired com- supply chain, research and devel-

Dr. Robert “Bob” Golden

Research Fellow, Technology & Innovation

• Over 30 years experience

• Holds two U.S. patents
• Developed the Aristonate® Calcium Neutralization process

Create More With Pilot Chemical.

Learn how innovative oil soluble sulfonates from the chemists at
Pilot enhance metalworking formulation for companies across
M E TA LW O R K I N G & LU B R I C A N TS the globe at pilotmetalworking.com.

PILOTMETALWORKING.COM

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 69

Q NEWSMAKERS

opment and corporate accounts functions.
“I am excited about this new challenge,”
says Goertzen. “The opportunity to build
upon our many industry relationships to find
the next great product, company or technol-
ogy is just another way to continue the Pilot
growth story.”
IN MEMORIAM
Steven Patton
With great sadness, TLT reports the pass-
ing of STLE-member and TLT technical editor
Steven Patton, who passed away on Nov.
22, 2017.
Patton was born in Springfield, Ohio, on
May 29, 1961. He graduated from Shawnee
High School in 1979 being accepted into the Journal of Polymer
and went on to pur- Science. His love of science and his dedi-
sue an education in cation to his work allowed him to achieve
physics. He received many goals and accomplishments with
his bachelor’s of his latest award being presented at the
arts degree in phys- University of Dayton Research Institute in
ics from Wittenberg May 2017 for the Outstanding Professional
University in 1988, Research Award.
his master’s degree
in physics from The Steven Patton
Ohio State Universi- Want to be recognized in TLT? If you have
ty in 1994 and his doctorate in physics from news about a new employee or if someone in your
Ohio State in 1998. He was employed by the company has been recognized with an award or any
University of Dayton (Wright Patterson Air other interesting items, let us know. Please send
Force Base). us your news releases and photos for publication in
Patton was a physicist and a tribolo- Newsmakers to TLT Magazine, Attn: Rachel Fowler,
gist. He wrote and published numerous 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068, rfowler@
scientific papers with his latest publication stle.org.

Correction
In the February Fellowship Research article, Alkyl-Cyclens as Effective Sulfur- and Phosphorus-Free Friction Modifiers for Boundary Lubrica-
tion, this credit line should have been placed at the end of the article: Reprinted with permission from (Desanker, M.; et al. ACS Appl. Mater.
Interfaces 2017, 9, 9118-9125.). Copyright (2017) American Chemical Society. TLT regrets this error and apologizes for any inconvenience.

70 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 PLUS
Free lead-retrieval
system for
exhibitors and
attendees!
The STLE
Annual Meeting
in an all-new app.
Available Now: STLE 365 App

73rd STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition

May 20-24, 2018
Minneapolis Convention Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) Download the app—
STLE’s Annual Meeting offers so much programming that keeping
and don’t miss a thing!
track of what’s happening when and where can be a challenge.
Download the app from The App Store
The STLE 365 App lets you plan your itinerary, schedule appoint-
(Apple products) or The Play Store (An-
ments and stay on top of fast-breaking meeting updates every
droid products). Log in using your STLE
minute of the day. Download the 365 app—and don’t miss a thing!
member ID and password.
The Annual Meeting section of STLE’s 365 app (under the Event
Once in the 365 app, go to Event Apps
Apps section) lets you track, schedule and connect with:
to find STLE’s 73rd Annual Meeting &
Exhibition.
• Nearly 500 technical session abstracts—push a button and it’s
on your itinerary!
For additional questions about the app,
• Paper presenters—easily find your favorite authors
please contact Bruce Murgueitio at
• 12 lubrication-specific education courses bmurgueitio@stle.org.
• More than 100 exhibitors at the trade show
• Special events and networking opportunities
• Floor plans of the Minneapolis Convention Center
and exhibition
• 1,600 international attendees
• Meeting sponsors STLE 365 App
• Local dining options Annual Meeting section sponsored by
• Meeting updates—stay on top of late-breaking news. Focus Chemical.

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers • 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068
Phone: 847-825-5536 • Fax: 847-825-1456 • info@stle.org • www.stle.org
NEW PRODUCTS

Five-Ball RCF Tester

Napoleon Engineering Services (NES), the largest bearing-testing and inspection facility in the
U.S., has upgraded its five-ball rolling-contact fatigue tester. The NES five-ball tester captures
many of the intricate mechanics of bearing fatigue, making it very attractive for simulation of
full-scale bearing testing of ball bearings without full-scale costs. The upper drive ball simu-
lates the inner ring, the cup supporting the lower four balls models the outer ring, and the four
planetary balls replicate the balls in
a bearing. Five-ball testing can be
used to investigate lubricant effects
on fatigue life and study other roll-
er-contact fatigue characteristics.
This modern version of the original
NASA testers is designed to run at
speeds up to 10,000 rpm and stress New Fuel-Efficient
levels up to 900 ksi (6.2 GPa). The Traxon Synthetic Gear Oil
NES tester controls lubricant flow,
oil temperature, rotational speed Petro-Canada Lubricants announces its
and applied load while monitoring TRAXON gear oil line has now expanded
support cup temperature and system to include TRAXON Synthetic MTF 75W-
vibration for automatic shutdown. 80. This is a premium performance com-
mercial vehicle manual transmission flu-
Napoleon Engineering Services id formulated to provide extended drain
Olean, N.Y. capability (up to 400,000 km or 250,000
(877) 870-3200 miles), deliver all-weather protection and
www.nesbearings.com reduce maintenance costs. The new prod-
uct is recommended for extended drain
service in heavy-duty (Class 6, 7 and 8)
manual transmissions and has been fully
approved by Volvo and Mack for use in
New Heavy Neutral Base Stock their synchronized automated manual
transmission applications (Volvo I-Shift
ExxonMobil has expanded its global slate of EHC™ base stocks with the introduction of EHC™ and Mack mDRIVE). TRAXON Synthetic
120, a heavy neutral Group II base stock. EHC 120 soon will be available in Rotterdam, The MTF 75W-80 exceeds key performance
Netherlands, for distribution in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and in Baytown, Texas, parameters set by Volvo’s I-Shift specifi-
for distribution in North and South America. Designed to meet the evolving demands of the cation (STD 1273.07-97307). The product
global base stocks industry, ExxonMobil’s EHC 120 expands the well-designed EHC Group maintained exceptional in-grade shear
II slate. By increasing formulation-coverage capabilities, the EHC slate is optimal for the stability after a 20 hr KRL Shear test (CEC
cost-effective blending of the majority of lubricant applications, including those within the L-45-99) with a <3.5% loss, well within
automotive, heavy-duty and industrial sectors. ExxonMobil will begin production at its Rot- Volvo’s 5% maximum limit. The gear
terdam refinery following the completion of its hydrocracker expansion project. Startup at oil also outperformed Volvo’s viscosity
Rotterdam is on track to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018 with full commercialization of increase limits after a demanding DKA
EHC 120 targeted for the first quarter of 2019. The company also confirmed its capability to oxidation test (CEC L-48-A-00) of 192 hrs
produce EHC 120 in Baytown with availability to customers expected in 2019. Collaborative at 160 C limit in 100 degrees viscosity
work with additive companies during the project pre-marketing period will allow ExxonMobil testing with nearly half that of the 10%
customers to take full advantage of Rotterdam’s products EHC 50 and EHC 120 as soon as they maximum limit. The product delivers ex-
are commercialized. cellent oxidation stability to resist depos-
its and sludge formation, which reduces
ExxonMobil Basestocks issues with transmission shifting, system
Spring, Texas efficiency and equipment functionality.
(800) 582-3645
www.exxonmobil.com/ Petro-Canada Lubricants
en/basestocks/products Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
(866) 335-3369
https://lubricants.petro-canada.com/

72 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

Dual-Controlled Load Tribometer

The Nanovea T2000 is the world’s first dual-controlled load tribom- measured is actually the load applied on the surface. The linear elec-
eter providing vertical force oscillation at frequencies up to 150 Hz. tromagnetic loading system of the T2000 can apply a vertical force of
It combines advanced pneumatic technology with a state-of-the-art 0.2-20 N at frequencies up to 150 Hz. As an example, the normal load
linear electromagnetic stage to provide controlled loading from 1 can be increased from 0-100 N with the pneumatic technology, and
mN to 2,000 N during rotative and then the linear motor can vary
linear testing. Pneumatic is used the load from 90-110 N and up to
from 5-2,000 N offering multiple 150 times per second. This gives
advantages compared with age- the unique capability of super-
old spring/motor technologies posing a control fatigue or vibra-
used on other systems. With tion level to the main constant
spring/motor technologies, the force applied by the pneumatic
load sensor is typically placed system. This electromagnetic lin-
behind the spring. This means ear stage also can apply directly
that it is not measuring the ac- very low loads from 1 mN to 5 N
tual variation of load applied on to complete the full range.
the surface during the test. The
T2000 measures the load by a Nanovea
direct connection between the Irvine, Calif.
ball holder and the actual load (949) 336-1477
cell. This ensures that the load www.nanovea.com

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 73

SOUNDING BOARD

Q.1 Describe From industrial machinery to heavy construction equipment

to the family commode, TLT readers have seen it all when it
comes to seal failures. Two threads that ran through reader
the most difficult comments were (1.) many seal failures are easily avoidable and
(2.) gearboxes and other components are frequently blamed for

sealing application problems that originated with a seal. Readers also noted that
despite continual admonitions to check compatibility, many end-

you faced and how users still experience seal failures due to choosing the wrong
lubricant. Seal problems can be costly, too. Forty-five percent of
survey respondents said seal failures have caused their or their
you solved it. customer’s company more than $10,000 in the last 12 months.
“While not necessarily devastating, it is frustrating because it is
preventable,” notes one reader.

© Can Stock Photo / Bilanol

74 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

Dry seal application.
Radial shafts seal at 30,000
rpm.
A screw compressor had a
spring-loaded face seal that
broke, and leakage was
occurring. We increased the
surface roughness of the
seating so the seal does not
slide out due to vacuum.
Mechanical seal failure in PD
lobe pump that was pumping
liquid sorbitol. Solved problem
by changing to a pump that
used a labyrinth seal.
Pump seals.
Mining suspension strut seal
failures are costly and time
consuming to repair. Working
with the manufacturer’s
expertise and supporting test
parts with different surface
finishes and materials has
improved life dramatically,
but there is still more life
to gain. The biggest hurdle
is understanding that
improvement is incremental,
and every bit makes a
difference. It’s not an overnight
change in many cases.
Q.2 Describe
the most
devastating
seal failure
you have
experienced
or witnessed.
WWW.STLE.ORG
How many seal failures
has your company (or your
customer’s company)
experienced in the last
12 months?
Fewer than 10 63%
10-100 27%
More than 100 10%
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT
readers.
Idler from conveyor belts used
for iron ore transportation.
The problem is not solved yet.
Different labyrinth seals with
and without grease were
tested along with rolling
bearings with seals and
shields. Results were not
satisfying.
Leaking high (1,800 psi) steam
past a heat exchanger gasket
face that we knew was as flat
as we could measure. We
roughened the surface finish of
the mating faces and were
very careful on retorquing
fasteners.
A compressor with a dry seal
backed fluid in during a power
failure and wrecked the
compressor twice.
Overheated seal.
Abrasive wear on rolling
bearing caused by dust
ingestion and leading to
machine shutdown.
I saw the spring-loaded face seal
on the compressor shaft break.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
The family toilet. The plumber
was called.
The bearing of continuous
casting in steel industry. We
use calcium sulfonate grease.
RON95 (premium gasoline
equivalent) down to -29 C
in a marine environment
for both static and dynamic
sealing in commercial
off-the-shelf components.
Required custom-made
specialty gaskets made for
replacing key areas and
components.
Rapid acceleration and
deceleration. Unsolved.
The seal on a high-
temperature bearing was
failing on test at 150 C. The
urea grease was breaking
down, and the active nitrogen
attacked the fluoroelastomer.
We changed to a higher
quality fluoroelastomer and to
a more thermally stable urea
thickener and the problem
went away.
Seal pot on catalytic cracker
process. We used a very
abrasive material.
Mechanical water flush seals
that failed, letting water get
into the product being pumped,
which contaminated the end
product.
Standard mechanical seal
on a gearbox application that
was bypassing the elastomer
around the shaft. Caused
significant down time of a
passenger ferry after a
replacement failed within
an hour.
Valve cover on my BMW
motorcycle.
Roller bearing shielding in
mower spindle application.
Labyrinth seal. Replaced it.
The mechanical seal of a
ballast pump (capacity 3,000
m3/hrs) started leaking in the
engine room, and we had to
overhaul the pump to change
the mechanical seal. On
further analysis, we found
the graphite part of the seal
had broken.
CIPG. The sealant leaked into
the device causing fluid
problems.
Pump leakage. We changed
the seal for better
compatibility.
As a lubricant formulator,
the greatest issues we see
are typically either with wide
cyclic temperature variation or
with regular wash downs. In
some cases, we have to accept
that the lubricant will slowly
leak/become contaminated
and select/formulate
accordingly.
Suspension strut seal failures
tend to be the costliest on a
per-failure basis.
It is not worth describing.
Suffice to say the smell was
very bad.
Grease coking in the bearing.
Pump failed to feed in raw
material in time and ruined an
entire batch of valuable
material.
APRIL 2018 • 75
Q SOUNDING BOARD
Lots of gearbox failures we
have witnessed can be traced
back to seal failure. The seals
are usually the weakest point
in the system. But when the
seal “fails,” the gearbox will
keep running until something
more catastrophic fails. This is
then noted as the failure.
A material was chosen that
had a weakness against ozone.
In areas of high urban ozone,
the seals failed. The equipment
maker had very high warranty
costs to replace failed
component assemblies.
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an email survey of 13,000 TLT readers. Views expressed are those of the respondents and do not
reflect the opinions of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of opinions expressed
in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an endorsement of the technology by STLE.
Grounded in
chemistry.
Created for
reality.
©2018 The Elco Corporation
76 • APRIL 2018
Fire and explosion in a Cat unit I was walking past a boiler
How much have seal failures
in 1982. feed water pump, and the
cost your company (or your
main shaft packing blew out.
customer’s company) in the
Sulphur acid pump. Lost 5,000
last 12 months?
gallons of concentrated acid to Ballast pump leaking from
containment. the mechanical seal while
Less than $100 15%
ballasting operation.
Premature spindle failure. $100-$1,000 35%
2006 Pontiac Solstice
We’ve seen several sealing $1,000-$10,000 5% rear axle seal/fluid
failures at customers, despite combination incompatible,
repeated warnings to check More than $10,000 45% resulting in axle oil on
compatibility with the garage floor and a recall
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT
lubricant before use. While from GM.
readers.
not necessarily devastating,
it is frustrating because it is
preventable.
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TLT ADVERTISERS INDEX

APRIL 2018 • VOL. 74, NO.4

Company Page Next in TLT:

Abitec Corp. 73
May
Acme-Hardesty Co. 44 STLE Pre-convention Issue
Ad close: March 23
Bruker 27
Materials: March 30

© Can Stock Photo / epixx

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. 35
• Grease
Cannon Instrument Co. 53 • Gears

Chevron Oronite Co., LLC 5

• Oil Analysis
• Pneumatics
Chevron Phillips Chemical 64
CRC Press - Taylor and Francis Group 77 June
STLE Convention Issue
Daubert Chemical 82 (1,600 bonus distribution in
Evonik Oil Additives OBC Minneapolis)
Ad close: April 16
ExxonMobil Basestocks 43 Materials: April 19
© Can Stock Photo / m3ron

ExxonMobil Chemical Co. 3 • Medical Tribology

Fluid Line Products 63 • Seals
• Computer-aided Modeling
Huntsman Petrochemical Corp. 7 • Automotive Tribology
J.A.M. Distributing Co. 26
King Industries, Inc. 9 July
(Post-convention Issue &
Lockhart Chemical Co. 67 Summer Sales Special. Special
MJ Tribology 87 terms apply.)
Ad close: May 25
Münzing 23 Materials: June 1
© Can Stock Photo / ShutterM

Nanovea IFC • Oil Analysis

Napoleon Engineering Services 70 • Aviation Lubricants
• Bearings
Pilot Chemical 69 • STEM
Savant, Inc. 21
August
Sea-Land Chemical Co. 66
(Exhibitor Special—Buy an ad,
Soltex, Inc. 65 get your 2019 exhibit booth in
Nashville, Tenn., free. Special
STLE 365 App: Annual Meeting 71
terms apply.)
STLE 2018 Annual Meeting & Exhibition 55 Ad close: June 22
Materials: June 29
© Can Stock Photo / kadmy

STLE 2018 Annual Meeting Exhibitor

83
Appreciation Hour • Metalworking Fluids
STLE Certification 85 • Seals
• Bearings
STLE Membership 47 • Automotive Tribology
STLE 2018 Tribology Frontiers Conference 79
The Elco Corp. 76
UL Prospector IBC
For information on how to customize a multimedia marketing program
Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC 11 that reaches 15,000 lubricant-industry decision-makers, contact:
National Sales Manager, Tracy Nicholas VanEe
Zschimmer & Schwarz, Inc. 81
(630) 922-3459 • tnicholas@stle.org

78 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 Mark Your Calendar!

And learn about the technical,

2018 STLE environmental and social issues that
Tribology will most impact tribology research
in the 21st Century.
Frontiers For the fourth year STLE is convening an
Conference international community to share tribology’s
most cutting-edge research. Come join us for
four information-packed days with tribology’s top
minds—you’ll leave with a better understanding
of how your company’s products will fit into an
The Drake Hotel Chicago ever-evolving technical future.
Oct. 28-31, 2018 Visit www.stle.org for program updates,
online registration and hotel reservations.
TFC registration opens following
the 73rd STLE Annual Meeting &
Exhibition, May 20-24, 2018, in
Minneapolis.
See you in Chicago!
• Cutting-edge tribology research
• Networking
• Industry recognition
• Leadership opportunities
• Invited speakers
• International community
• Idea sharing

Co-sponsored by ASME Tribology Division.

© Can Stock Photo / malajski

Places of Interest • The Art Institute of Chicago • Museum of Science and Industry • Follow us on:
Field Museum • Shedd Aquarium • Willis Tower • Lincoln Park Zoo •
John Hancock Building • Navy Pier • Millennium Park • Michigan Avenue shopping

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068 • info@stle.org • www.stle.org • 847-825-5536
RESOURCES
Technical Books
Materials and Thermodynamics
Author: Pierre Delhaes
Publisher: Wiley
A thermodynamic system is defined
according to its environment and its
compliance. This book promotes the
classification of materials from general-
ized thermodynamics outside the equi-
librium state and not solely according to
their chemical origin. The author goes
beyond standard classification of mate-
rials and extends it to take into account
the living, ecological, economic and financial systems in which
they exist; all these systems can be classified according to their
deviation from an ideal situation of thermodynamic equilibrium.
The concepts of dynamic complexity and hierarchy, emphasiz-
ing the crucial role played by cycles and rhythms, then become
fundamental. Finally the limitations of the uniqueness of this
description that depend on thermodynamic foundations based
on the concepts of energy and entropy are discussed in relation
to the cognitive sciences. Available at www.wiley.com. List
Price: $135.00 (USD), hardcover.
Food Toxicology: Current Advances and
Future Challenges
Editors: Ashish Sachan and Suzanne Hendrich
Publisher: CRC Press
This volume covers a selection of im-
portant research in the multifaceted field
of food toxicology. With more than sev-
en billion people in the world today and
counting, advances in food toxicology have
a direct bearing on food safety issues that
are of concern to all humanity for the fore-
seeable future. Massive globalization, in-
dustrialization and commercialization have
affected every aspect of food production,
the food supply chain and food consumption. This informative
volume offers the global perspectives of scientists in important
areas related to biomarkers and nanosensors in food toxicology,
toxicology of nanomaterials, chemicals in sanitation and packag-
ing, additives, mycotoxins, endocrine disruptors, radionuclides,
toxic metals and waste-burning residues in food. The book also
emphasizes regulatory toxicology and includes an interesting
example case study. Available at www.crcpress.com. List
Price: $179.95 (USD), hardcover.
80 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
STLE Certification Exams
STLE is offering certification exams in April and May. Here is the
information on each exam:
• April 27 from 1-4 p.m. at Fluid Life, 4371 Savaryn Dr. SW, Ed-
monton, Alberta, Canada.
• May 18 from 8-11 a.m. at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Brent-
wood North-Nashville Area, 5566 Franklin Pike Cir., Brentwood,
Tenn.
• May 18 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaan-
dam, Provincialeweg 102, 1506 MD Zaandam, Netherlands.
• May 24 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention
Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
For the online registration form, go to www.stle.org; click on the
professional development tab at the top. Then go to certification,
then registration. Online registration closes two weeks prior to the
exam date. Onsite registration may be available on a first come,
first serve basis. For more information and for other methods
of registering, you may contact STLE headquarters by emailing
certification@stle.org or calling (847) 825-5536.
ICETAT 2018
The International Conference on Engineering Tribology and Ap-
plied Technology 2018 (ICETAT 2018) will be held Nov. 16-18 at
the Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei, Taiwan.
The theme for this year is Engineering Tribology Technology. Top-
ics include basic friction and wear, lubrication, contact mechanics,
surface engineering and coating, biotribology and more. For more
details on the conference, visit www.tstt.org.tw/icetat2018.
22nd International Conference on Wear of Materials
The 22nd International Conference on Wear of Materials will take
place in Miami, Fla., April 14-18, 2019. Organized every two years,
the conference provides a unique international forum for research-
ers and practicing engineers from different disciplines to interact
and exchange their latest results. Special sessions will concentrate
on engine tribology, wear of tools and tooling materials, friction
and wear under vibratory contact, marine applications, role of third
bodies during wear and surface texturing for wear reduction. The
conference is unique for its paper submission process with full peer
review in collaboration with the Elsevier journal, Wear, to ensure
technical quality of presentations. Abstracts, which are due May 31,
2018, are now invited on the topics listed on the conference website
at www.wearofmaterialsconference.com.
WWW.STLE.ORG
 Events listed here are local section programs. For further details and a full listing of other upcoming section events in your
area, visit www.stle.org. Meeting announcements can be sent to TLT Magazine, Attn: Rachel Fowler, rfowler@stle.org.

STLE Local Section Meeting Calendar

April 2018 STLE Detroit Section Brunch: Tribology pid and Tribis Engineering; Arup Gan-
Simulation in Powertrain Applications; gopadhyay, Ford), May 2, 7:30 a.m. (reg-
STLE Northern California Education Plane Bearing Materials and Applica- istration and continental breakfast), 8 a.m.
Day: Lubrication Fundamentals and tions; Engine Oil Friction (Speakers: (speaker presentations), 11:30 a.m. (brunch),
Fluid Management Seminar, April 4, 8 Fanghui Shi, GM; Robert Adams, Sera- Oakland University – Engineering
a.m. to 5 p.m. Topics include fundamentals
of lubrication, base oils and oil additives,
hydraulics, greases and bearings, oil anal-
ysis and more. Oakland Airport Executive
Hotel, 150 Hegenberger Rd., Oakland, Calif.
Registration deadline is March 23. To RSVP,
email stle.norcal@gmail.com. Contact:
Brendan Miller, (510) 242-2179.

STLE Houston Section: Topic and

Speaker TBD, April 13, 11 a.m. (registra-
tion and networking), 11:30 a.m. (full buffet
lunch), 12:00 p.m. (business meeting and
technical presentation), Brady’s Landing
Restaurant, 8505 Cypress St., Houston,
Texas. For more information, visit www.
stlehouston.com/2HoustonSTLE/in-
dex.shtml.

STLE Alberta Section: Topic and

Speaker TBD, April 16, 6 p.m. (hospitality
hour), 6:45 p.m. (dinner), 7:30 p.m. (speak-
er presentation). Contact: Peter Neufeld, ...
pneufeld@suncor.com.

STLE Pittsburgh Section: Benefits of

Oil Analysis (Speaker: Elizabeth Nel-
son, Bureau Veritas), April 17. More in-
formation to come.

May 2018

STLE Philadelphia Section: 2nd Annual

George Arbocus Education Course, May
2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The education course
will focus on ways the automotive industry
is using lubricants to improve efficiency.
Speakers are from Southwest Research In-
stitute, General Motors, The Lubrizol Corp.,
Evonik Oil Additives, Driven Racing Oil and
Don Schumacher Racing. Lunch and a tour
of the museum will be provided to attend-
ees. Simeone Foundation Automotive Mu-
seum, 6825 Norwitch Dr., Philadelphia, Pa.
For more information and to register, visit
www.philadelphia-stle.org.

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 81

Q RESOURCES

Center, 115 Library Dr., Rochester, Mich. The major factors contributing to the Electric vehicles are viewed by China
Contact: Beth Zou, qzou@oakland.edu. world’s fastest regional growth rate are: and other countries (including Germany,
Japan and Norway) as an effective means of
STLE Houston Section: Topic and Speak- • Continued increases in the region’s meeting climate change commitments and
er TBD, May 11, 11 a.m. (registration and light vehicle and medium and heavy reducing air pollution. Additionally electric
networking), 11:30 a.m. (full buffet lunch), truck and bus parks vehicles are expected to be the basis for new,
12:00 p.m. (business meeting and techni- autonomous driving systems being devel-
• Increase in construction activity across
cal presentation), Brady’s Landing Restau- oped by a number of companies.
the region
rant, 8505 Cypress St., Houston, Texas. For However, through 2021 their impact on
more information, visit www.stlehouston. • Acceleration in the agriculture sector automotive lubricant demand will remain
com/2HoustonSTLE/index.shtml. due to a regional trend limited due to the size of the existing elec-
of increasing use of tractors in the tric vehicle park and the challenges of ex-
farming industry panding their presence in the market with-
• Increase in regional motorcycle park. out significant subsidies. This will change
Report: 3.2% Growth Forecast over the long term, though, as electric ve-
for Asia/Pacific Auto Lubricants Global automotive lubricant demand hicles become a bigger part of the market.
is forecast to rise 1.6 % per year through Global Automotive Lubricants (pub-
Automotive lubricant demand in the Asia/ 2021. Strong economic growth in devel- lished December 2017, 355 pages) is avail-
Pacific region is expected to increase 3.2% oping economies will lead to increased able for $5,900 from The Freedonia Group.
per year to 11.0 million metric tons by 2021, agricultural and mining output, as well as For details or to arrange an interview with
according to a new report published by The rising construction activity, which in turn the report’s analyst, please contact Corinne
Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based indus- will drive strong gains in off-highway auto- Gangloff at 440-684-9600 or pr@freedoni-
try research firm. motive lubricants. agroup.com.

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82 • APRIL 2018 TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG

 73rd STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition
May 20-24, 2018
Minneapolis Convention Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)

Exhibitor Appreciation Hour

YOU’RE
INVITED!
Monday and Tuesday
May 21 & 22
3-4 pm both days
Minneapolis Convention Center
Refreshments will be served!

The trade show is a major component of STLE’s

Annual Meeting. In 2018 STLE is making it
even easier for you to fit a visit to the exhibition
into your personal itinerary with two hours of
dedicated exhibit time—no need to worry about
missing an education course or technical session!

Come view the newest products and services

from the lubricant industry’s leading companies.
More than 100 exhibitors are in Minneapolis
looking to do business with you.

As part of the Exhibitor Appreciation Hour,

Evonik Oil Additives is holding raffles on Monday
and Tuesday, May 21 and 22, at 3:30 pm in the
exhibit hall. You must be present to win.

2018 Exhibit Schedule

Monday: Noon-5 pm (Exhibitor Appreciation
Hour 3-4 pm)
Tuesday: 9:30 am-Noon & 2-5:30 pm (closed
for Presidents Luncheon - Noon-2 pm.
Exhibitor Appreciation Hour 3-4 pm)
Wednesday: 9:30 am-Noon

Exhibitors: To reserve a spot at the 2019 STLE

Download the 2018 STLE 365 App. exhibition at the Omni Nashville Hotel in
Annual Meeting section sponsored Nashville, Tenn., contact Tracy Nicholas VanEe
by Focus Chemical. at (630) 922-3459, tnicholas@stle.org.

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068, 847-825-5536, www.stle.org, info@stle.org.
BOOK REVIEW
ASM HANDBOOK
Volume 18: Friction, Lubrication, and Wear Technology
Edited by George E. Totten
Published by ASM International, 2017 • 1,108 pages
List Price: $297
By Dr. Robert M. Gresham
Contributing Editor
ASM Handbook, Volume 18: Friction, Lu-
brication, and Wear Technology is a tome of
1,108 pages divided into 12 chapters, each
of which contains several subchapters, all of
which contain extensive footnote references.
The book also ends with a comprehensive
glossary of terms and an extensive index.
Volume 18 is edited by George Totten,
a name well known to those in the field
whether we’re from industry, national labs
or academia. Totten has assembled a team
of about 200 subject matter experts to au-
thor and review the chapters comprising
the book. These experts also are generally
well known in the field. Thus, the book is
well organized, comprehensive, peer re-
viewed and authoritative.
For those not familiar with ASM Interna-
tional, the organization began in 1913 and
centered on steel-making technology. Now
ASM embraces a wide diversity of materials
and processing technologies.
The first edition of this handbook was
published in 1992. Since then there have
been many, many advances in material and
technology. Many materials that are now
commonplace did not exist in 1992. Thus,
this second edition is a welcome update to
codify our knowledge of the tribology of
materials, including solid friction, lubricants
and lubrication, wear, laboratory character-
ization, systematic diagnosis of friction and
wear tests, friction and wear components,
materials for friction and wear applications
and surface treatments and coatings for fric-
tion and wear control.
The book is intended for engineers and
technical personnel who are looking for
practical solutions to real-world tribological
problems. It covers the fundamental phys-
ical principles and material properties that
84 • APRIL 2018
Totten
assembled
200 subject
matter
are the basis of understanding and solving
tribological problems. experts to
Normally in a book review I like to go write and
through some or all of the chapters provid- review the
ing insight into their content and style, but 12 chapters
this book is a bit large for that. However, be- comprising
low is a listing of the chapters that provides
the book.
some insight into the depth of this book:
1. Introduction
2. Solid Friction
3. Lubricants and Lubrication Wear
4. Wear by Particles or Fluids
5. Wear by Rolling, Sliding or Impact
6. Chemically Assisted and
Environmentally Controlled Wear
7. Tribology and Wear of Irons and Steel
8. Tribology of Nonferrous Alloys and
Nonmetallic Materials
9. Surface Treatments and Coatings
for Friction and Wear Control
10. Tool and Die Wear
11. Friction and Wear of Machine
Components
12. Condition Monitoring
13. Reference Information.
Clearly this is a book with breadth of
coverage. About the only thing missing
relates to the practical application of lubri- tions to real-world tribological problems. As
cants: equipment, techniques and main- a result, this book is a must read for these in-
tenance strategies. While those topics are dividuals and can be a single-source replace-
covered lightly in the Condition Monitoring ment for many books that might be in their
chapter, a more comprehensive treatment libraries, especially those becoming dated.
would be for a slightly different audience:
the day-to-day practitioners. Bob Gresham is STLE’s director of
Again, Volume 18 is for engineers and professional development. You can reach
technical personnel looking for practical solu- him at rgresham@stle.org.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY WWW.STLE.ORG
 S T L E C E R T I F I C AT I O N
Invest in your greatest
asset—yourself.
Credibility. Respect. Integrity.

Those are the qualities immediately conferred upon you

when you attain one of STLE’s technical certifications.
Becoming STLE certified not only verifies your technical
expertise, it demonstrates your professional dedication
to your employer, customers and peers.

STLE offers four technical certifications:

Certified Lubrication Specialist™

STLE’s signature certification is held by more than
1,500 lubrication professionals and remains the industry’s
standard for technical excellence. Independent studies
show that CLS-certified professionals earn more money,
supervise larger staffs and are more likely to receive raises.
Designed for technical specialists, CLS also is held by
hundreds of sales and marketing reps.

Certified Oil Monitoring Analyst™ I & II

STLE’s OMA certification is for the predictive maintenance
professional and demonstrates proficiency in sampling and
analyzing oil properties. OMA I is for the individual taking
the oil sample on the shop floor. OMA II is for the person
responsible for running the proper tests, interpreting data
and managing the lubrication program.

Certified Metalworking Fluids Specialist™

STLE’s CMFS certification verifies knowledge, experience
and education in this growing and specialized field. CMFS
is for individuals with responsibility for metal-removal
or forming management, application and handling of
metalworking fluids and related materials.

Invest in your greatest asset—yourself. Plan now to attain

your STLE certification.

For more information or to schedule an exam, contact

STLE Certification Program Manager Alicia Skulemowski
at certification@stle.org, 847-825-5536.

Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, 840 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068, info@stle.org, www.stle.org.
CUTTING EDGE
Lighting up the contacts
Fluorescence methods allow the real area of contact to be visualized—
and show where Amontons’ Law fails for polymers!
By Drs. Wilfred T. Tysoe & Nicholas D. Spencer
In a previous column we discussed how flu-
orescence measurements can show how vis-
cosity varies during EHL lubrication.1 Now
another fluorescence-based technique has
been applied to reveal the real area of con-
tact during both static loading and sliding
experiments.2
The cleverly designed molecule3 shown
in Figure 1, when anchored via silanes onto
a glass surface, has the interesting property
of fluorescing when the internal rotation of
the molecules is hindered upon confinement.
In other words, as soon as the separation
between the coated glass and a counter
surface decreases to about the size of the
molecule’s diameter, it fluoresces.
Professor Daniel Bonn, with his col-
leagues Bart Weber, Tomislav Suhina and
Albert Brouwer at the University of Amster-
dam, Netherlands, in collaboration with Till
Junge and Lars Pastewka at Karlsruhe In-
stitute of Technology in Germany, have used
this fluorescent system to examine the real
Figure 1. Immobilized molecules that display
confinement-induced fluorescence. (Reprinted
from Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co., Weinheim.3)
86 • APRIL 2018
contact area of a roughened polystyrene
(PS) sphere pressed against glass under
both static loading and sliding conditions. By
following the total fluorescence intensity, the
researchers were able to monitor the total
contact area (see Figure 2a) and compare it
to that expected from calculations based on
different theoretical approaches, all of which
used atomic force microscopy (AFM) rough-
ness data from the sphere as input.
A model that used independent multi-as-
perities (Greenwood-Tripp, Figure 2b) sig-
nificantly underestimated the real contact
area, while a full numerical Green’s function
method (see Figure 2c), which treats the elas-
tic interaction exactly on all length scales,
approached the experimental result more
closely but still failed to reproduce it. Only
by including the effects of plasticity and strain
hardening (see Figure 2d) could the experi-
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
Figure 2. Real contact area
between a rough polystyrene
sphere and a smooth
fluorescent-molecule covered
glass surface measured and
simulated at increasing loads.
(a) Fluorescence-intensity
images of the contact geometry.
The average contact pressure
rises from roughly 100 MPa at
the beginning of the experiment
to 250 MPa at the highest
loads. Scale bar, 10 μm.
(b) Elastic Greenwood and
Tripp (GT) bearing area
calculation. (c) Purely elastic
simulation. (d) Elastoplastic
contact-hardening simulation.
Green lines indicate contact
edges in the experimental
images. (Reprinted from
Springer-Nature.2)
mental results be reproduced (see Figure 3a).
AFM measurements were also made after the
loading experiment and confirmed that plastic
deformation had, indeed, taken place at the
most prominent asperities.
The measured static friction between the
PS sphere and the glass surface was found
to be reproduced well by the hardening sim-
ulation (after multiplying by an interfacial
shear strength) and demonstrates that the
friction force is, indeed, proportional to the
contact area. However, as is often the case
for polymeric systems, Amontons’ Law is
not obeyed at significant loads, as can be
clearly seen from the non-linearity of the
friction-load plot (see Figure 3b).
This work shows how new weapons in
the experimentalists’ arsenal for observing
fundamental tribological processes on the
microscopic scale, combined with increas-
WWW.STLE.ORG
a b ingly powerful computational approaches, can help us
begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding the most
basic concepts of friction.
Eddy Tysoe is a distinguished professor of physical
chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
You can reach him at wtt@uwm.edu.
Nic Spencer is professor of surface science and
technology at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and
editor-in-chief of STLE-affiliated Tribology Letters
journal. You can reach him at nspencer@ethz.ch.

Figure 3. (a) Real contact area versus normal force. Symbols show experiments on three
polystyrene (PS) spheres that have similar roughness. Solid lines show values obtained
from Hertzian (smooth-sphere) theory, as well as those based on pure elasticity, and using
a hardening model. (b) Static friction force of contacts like those in (a), measured at differ-
ent normal forces. Symbols show experiments on two PS spheres, the red solid line being
the hardening simulation fitted onto the friction data by multiplication with the interfacial
shear strength. The agreement shows that the static friction force is proportional to the
contact area, but the clear non-linearity shows that Amontons’ Law is not obeyed for this
system at significant loads. (Adapted from [2] by kind permission of Springer-Nature.)
REFERENCES
1. Tysoe, W.T. and Spencer, N.D. (2016), “Looking at lube in
a new light,” TLT, 72 (4), p. 72.
2. Weber, B., Suhina, T., Junge, T., Pastewka, L., Brouwer,
A.M. and Bonn, D. (2018), “Molecular Probes Reveal
Deviations from Amontons’ Law in Multi-Asperity
Frictional Contacts,” Nature Comm., 9. Doi: 10.1038/
s41467-018-02981-y.
3. Suhina, T., Weber, B., Carpentier, C.E., Lorincz, K, Schall,
P, Bonn, D. and Brouwer, A.M. (2015), “Fluorescence
Microscopy Visualization of Contacts Between Objects,”
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 54, pp. 3688-3691.

WWW.STLE.ORG TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY APRIL 2018 • 87

AUTOMOTIVE TRIBOLOGY
Return of the Wankel?
Toyota has a 5% stake in Mazda and promises a rotary engine in one of its vehicles.
By Dr. Edward P. Becker
Of all the columns I’ve written
for this magazine, my August
2016 column titled What Stalled
the Wankel? has received the
most reader feedback. Obvious-
ly this topic struck a chord with
many readers and, perhaps not
surprisingly, the Wankel engine
is in the news once again.
Toyota has acquired a 5%
stake in Mazda, the only auto-
maker to take the Wankel en-
gine into mass production. In
particular, Toyota is interested
in developing a Wankel-driven
generator for its self-driving
vehicle platform. 1 Toyota an-
nounced the e-Palette concept
at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas earlier this
year. 2 While intended as an
electric vehicle, Toyota is aware
that current battery technology
would not permit the vehicle to
have sufficient power and range
for intended applications.
To extend the range of the
vehicle, Toyota is considering an
on-board generator powered by
an internal combustion engine,
an arrangement first mass-pro-
duced by General Motors in the
Chevrolet Volt. The Volt uses
a conventional piston engine,
while Toyota is planning to use
a Wankel engine.
By producing rotary motion
directly, the Wankel does away
with much of the hardware
required by a piston engine to
convert reciprocating motion
into rotation. Hence, to provide
a given amount of power, the
88 • APRIL 2018
Toyota says its e-Pallette is more than a concept car
and will eventually be produced with a Wankel engine.
Wankel is smaller, lighter and
less mechanically complex.
Recall, however, that the
Wankel has several disadvan-
tages. The combustion chamber
of the Wankel has a large surface
area-to-volume ratio, resulting in
high heat loss through the walls.
And the shape of the combustion
chamber is not ideal for efficient
burning, also resulting in inher-
ently lower fuel economy.
These effects can be mini-
mized, however, by designing
the engine to run at or near its
peak efficiency at all times. Since
the engine is not directly con-
nected to the drive wheels, but
only powers a generator to make
electricity, the engine can always
run at one speed and load with
excess electricity being routed to
on-board batteries. By not hav-
ing to deal with changing speed
and load, the engine can achieve
reasonable efficiency.
TRIBOLOGY & LUBRICATION TECHNOLOGY
The main tribological prob-
lem is the apex seals. Recall
that, unlike the rings in a piston
engine, the apex seal moves
only in one direction, has no nat-
ural means of direct lubrication
and must seal both the radial
and axial directions. All these
challenges still exist when the
engine runs a generator, but,
again by running at just one
speed and load all the time,
wear becomes considerably
more predictable. Even start-
up wear could be minimized
by warming the motor to near
operating temperature via an
electric heater before starting.
Will the combination of more
predictable, near steady-state
running conditions and over
half a century of development
by Mazda be enough for Toyo-
ta to succeed with Wankel? We
should know the answer fairly
soon. Mazda’s North American
© newsroom.toyota.co.jp
president and CEO Masahiro
Moro recently said he expects to
see a rotary engine in the Toyota
e-Palette in “a few years.”3
Ed Becker is an STLE Fellow and
past president. He is president
of Friction & Wear Solutions,
LLC, in Brighton, Mich., and can
be reached through his website
at www.frictionandwearsolu-
tions.com.
REFERENCES
1. Available at www.bloomberg.
com/news/articles/
2018-01-17/mazda-revives-
rotary-engine-for-toyota-s-
self-driving-fleet.
2. Available at www.theverge.
com/2018/1/8/16863092/
toyota-e-palette-self-driving-
car-ev-ces-2018.
3. Available at http://wardsauto.
com/engines/mazda-ceo-rota-
ry-return-soon-ev-due-
around-2020.
WWW.STLE.ORG
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