GEARS FAILURES AND

GEAR OIL

Haitham Sedik
Lubricants Technical Advisor

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AGENDA

Gears Types

Gear Lubricant Function

Gear Lubricant Key features

Challenges facing modern gearboxes

 Pitting

 Foaming

 Shell Omala Range

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MOST COMMON GEAR TYPES IN CEMENT INDUSTRY

Spur Helical Worm

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 SPUR GEARS

 Spur gears are the simplest type of gear

 straight teeth
 parallel shafts

 Power is transmitted alternately by one pair of teeth then two pairs

 Contact between teeth takes place abruptly across teeth width
 Tend to be noisy and run roughly
 wear makes problem worse
 Limited to relatively slow speeds
 There is no end thrust on the bearings supporting the shafts but there
is a major drawback: only one mating pair of teeth carry the major
part of the load at any one time during the revolution of the gears

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 HELICAL GEARS

 Helical gears are similar to spur gears but

teeth are cut at an angle
 Contact between teeth takes place gradually
and smoothly
 Several teeth are in contact at the same time -
The load is being “shared”
 Wear tends to equalize load between teeth

 Run more quietly and smoothly

 Can be used at higher speeds

 But they produce axial thrust on the shaft

bearings, as the pair of meshing teeth try to
unscrew out of mesh; end-thrust bearings are
necessary, to combat this tendency

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 WORM GEARS

 Worm gears are used to transmit power and wheel

motion between shafts at right angles
 A small diameter gear, or worm has one or
more threads, or starts
 Used to produce greater speed reduction /
torque than other simple gears worm
 Considerable friction resulting in special
lubrication problems
 Sliding contact dominates – less efficient
gearbox cf spur or helical designs
 Usually a steel worm and bronze wheel,
“steel-on-bronze”

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 THE FUNCTIONS OF A GEAR LUBRICANT

 Lubrication

 separation of moving surfaces

 reduction of friction
 reduction of wear, scuffing
 Cooling

 particularly important in enclosed gears

 Protection

 against corrosion
 Maintaining cleanliness

 removal of wear debris and contamination

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IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF A GEAR LUBRICANT

 Viscosity – chosen to match the  Anti-wear and EP properties –

size, type and gear speed
 Viscosity Index – important for
applications experiencing wide
temperature variations in
operation
 Oxidation resistance – to
provide long oil life and keep
the gearbox free from deposits
to protect the equipment from
shock loading, scuffing and
wear and high torque
 Anti-corrosion properties
 Anti-foaming properties – to
prevent excessive foaming and
potential loss of lubricant
 Demulsibility – to help minimize
rust & corrosion & allow for
draining of excess water ingress

Some properties are inherent to Base oil properties; others may be

enhanced by the use of suitable additives

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 VISCOSITY NEEDS

 Higher Loads Require Heavier Viscosity

 Higher Temperatures Require Heavier Viscosity

 Higher Speeds Require Lighter Viscosity

 Worm Gears Require – High Viscosity (Non-EP)

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 EFFECTS OF HIGHER AND LOWER VISCOSITY

 Increased Temperature from  Increased Temperature and

Fluid Friction Asperity Contact
 Increased Power Consumption  Wear – Metal to metal contact
from Fluid Friction  Decreased Load Carrying
 Increased Foaming from Ability
Churning
 Lubricant May Not Flow to
Critical Parts (Bearings)
 Less flow through filters and
heat exchangers (if present)

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CHALLENGES IN MODERN GEAR BOX LUBRICATION

Identified main gearbox lubrication field issues:

 Pitting of gear teeth

 Foaming & air entrainment issues
 Viscosity loss issues & Deposit formation in service
 Shear
stability
 Oxidation stability

 Gearbox heater design considerations

 Resistance to breakdown in presence of water contamination

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 LUBRICATION REGIMES FOR GEARS

A boundary
lubrication

B
A
C mixed
lubrication
mixed B
lubrication
C
EHD
lubrication
low speed
(< 5 m/s)
A-B: addendum
B: pitch circle
high speed B-C: dedendum
(> 5 m/s)

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FATIGUE PITTING ON GEAR SURFACE

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GEAR TEETH PITTING CAUSED BY INADEQUATE
LUBRICATION

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MICRO PITTING CAN LEAD TO MORE SERIOUS FAILURES

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ULTIMATE STAGE BEFORE DAMAGE ON GEARS
 LOAD & FATIGUE

Pitch line

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I HOPE THEY HAVE ONE OF THESE IN STOCK !

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 FOAMING & AIR ENTRAINMENT

> 1 mm dia. air bubbles

Foaming Rise rapidly to surface
Burst or produce foam

Oil surface

10-3 to 1 mm dia. air bubbles

Aeration Entrained in oil
Slow to rise to surface

Oil Reservoir

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FOAMING & AIR ENTRAINMENT

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 MEASURING FOAMING TENDENCY (ASTM D 892)

 ASTM D892 Standard Test Method for Foaming

Characteristics of Lubricating Oils
 In this particular the oil (at a temperature of
24ºC/75ºF) has air blown through the sample for 5
minutes, after 10 minutes resting the volume of any
foam remaining is again recorded (foam stability) –
Sequence I
 The test is repeated on a second sample at 93.5°C
(200°F), Sequence II and then, after collapsing the
foam, at 24°C (75°F) – Sequence III.
 Lesser the foam, the better

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SHELL OMALA PORTFOLIO

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 FACTORS INFLUENCING LUBRICANT SELECTION

 Gear type

 Open or closed
 Helical, spur, bevel
 Worm – High Viscosity
 Hypoid – Boundary
 Speed

 Gear materials and surface finish

 Operating temperature

 Load characteristics

Lubricant selection should always be based on manufacturers’

recommendations, if they are available
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 SHELL GEAR OIL SELECTION TREE
Shell Cassida GL
Steel on steel Y
helical, spur Y Y
Food grade Operating temp. Heavy or
and bevel Shell Omala S4 GX
required? >190°F ? shock loading?
gears
N Y
N
High micropitting N
Shell Morlina S4B
resistance required?

Y
Shell Omala S4 GX
High micropitting
resistance required?
N
Shell Omala S2G

Y Shell Cassida GL
Aluminium bronze Food grade
wheel required?
N
Shell Morlina S4B
Worm gearbox

N
Shell Omala S4 WE
Phosphor bronze Food grade
Wheel (OEM Filled PAG) required?
Y
Shell Cassida WG

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 SHELL OMALA S4 GX

Benefit and application

descriptors Performance level
(tier) indicator,
higher is better

Application or
benefit indicator

Application icons

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SHELL OMALA S4 GX DESIGNED FOR LONG OIL LIFE

Limiting fluid degradation can help to prolong oil life.

Proof: of Performance: In an industry-standard oil life test, Shell Omala S4 GX
achieved up to 47% less thickening
 than the maximum allowed after 312 hours at 121ºC

 note that the lubricant is still within the industry standard limit after 34 days

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SHELL OMALA S4 GX DESIGNED TO PROTECT

 Proven to have excellent load carrying capacity and exceptional micropitting

performance to help:
 Helps provide longer gear and bearing life than mineral oil-based products

 providing up to 90% less bearing  significantly exceeding the minimum gear

wear than standard FAG test limits protection requirements, even during
double speed testing.

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 SHELL OMALA S4 GX DESIGNED FOR HIGH EFFICIENCY

A gear oil needs to protect and lubricate efficiently.

Shell Omala S4 GX is designed to increase productivity by helping equipment to
meet or exceed its design capabilities under challenging conditions.
Shell Omala S4 GX:

provides up to 78% faster water  has a 35% lower friction coefficient

separation to help provide efficient and than Shell Omala S2 G to help reduce
consistent lubrication energy losses

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