ANTISCUFF PROPERTIES OF O I L S IN L U B R I C A T I O N

OF T E M P E R E D GEARS

Yu. A. Rozenberg UDC 620.176. 245:622. 892

In order to ascertain how gear scuffing is affected b y various types of lubricating oils, a number of these oils
were tested as lubricants for case-hardened and tempered gears with ground teeth. The gear hardness was HRC 58,
which is t y p i c a l for the highly loaded transmissions used in modern machine design; the m a t e r i a l was Type lgNM
steel conforming to GOST 4543-57. The tests were performed in an IAE gear-test machine [1, 2].

The test conditions were b a s i c a l l y those of the IP 1 6 6 / 6 5 method [3]. The tests consisted essentially of suc-
cessive application of loads (P) to the same tooth-profiles of the test gears, increasing the load stepwise up to the
onset of scuffing. The loads are expressed in arbitrary dimensionless units proportional to the torque transmitted by
the gears. The corresponding contact stresses are shown in Fig. 1.

The test time at each load was 5 minutes. The lowest load at which tooth scuffing occured was taken as the
index of oil antiscuff properties. This is termed the scuff load, Ps"

The tests showed that the nature of the scuffing varied, depending on the type of o i l Nonadditive oils or oils
with m i l d additives, for loads below the scuff load Ps, gave semiliquid lubrication with a large proportion of liquid
[hydrodynamic] lubrication, sufficient to prevent scuffing. On reaching some c r i t i c a l load Ps that depends mainly
on the oil viscosity, failure would occur within a certain t i m e after startup; this would be a sudden, catastrophic
scuffing of the adhesion type, with damage to the thin surface layers of the gear teeth (other than the zone near the
pole). With such a failure, the gears b e c a m e c o m p l e t e l y inoperable.

For oils with strong antiscuff (EP) additives, no c l e a r - c u t scuff load Ps was found. Scuffing showed up in the
form of scratches (furrows) on the gear teeth, the number and depth of these scratches gradually increasing as the
load was increased. The development of scuffing was being retarded by the protective films that the additives
formed. In such cases, the load Ps was taken as that load at which 60% of the working surface of the teeth was
scuffed.
The dividing line between the two types of scuff
failures c a m e at Ps values of 100 to 120 in tests conducted
under these particular conditions.
09

The first series of tests included 28 samples of nonad-

ditive oil s, mainly c o m m e r c i a l grades. One oil was synthe-
tic (ester), the others petroleum oils from various crude
sources, representing different cuts and different methods
of treatment. The test results are shown in Table 1 and
Fig. 2.

The scuff load Ps can be related to oil viscosity by

r .... I I I I I I I I ,.

I0 30 50 70 90 110 130 150 170 190 the following equation:

9 Load, P
Ps = 1877 ~x6
Fig. 1. Contact stress Oc at "pole of engagement"
of test gear teeth, as a function of load P (in a r - This relationship can be explained as follows" as is
bitrary units). w e l l known, at a heavily loaded contact in rolling friction

All-Union Scientific-Research Institute for Petroleum and Gas Processing and Synthetic Liquid Fuel Produc-
tion. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 1, pp. 41-46, January, 1971.

9 1971 Consultants Bureau, a division of Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 7/est 17th Street, New
York, N. Y. 10011. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reproduced for an)" purpose whatsoever
I without permission of the publisher. A copy of this article is available from the publisher for $15.00.

52
TABLE 1. Load-Carrying C a p a c i t y of Gears Based on Scuff Criterion for Lubrication with Various Nonadditive Oils
(Oil temperature at entrance to t o o t h - e n g a g e m e n t zone 7(YC n = 4000 rpm)

Relative load-carrying
No. Oil Viscosity at Scuff load Ps, c a p a c i t y based on
COST or TU spec. no.
10(YC, cS arbitrary units torque transmitted
before scuffing t-
Transformer GOST 982-55 2.7 28 1.0
MK-8 GOST 6457-66 2. 8 25 0. 87
Bis(2-ethylhexyl)sebacate 3.4 26* 0. 91
(synthetic ester oil)
Spindle oil AU GOST 1642-50 3.5 30 1.09
IS-12 GOST 8675-62 3.6 25 O. 87
Blend of oils 1 and 19
(75/25) 4.4 20 0.65

7 IS-20 GOST 8675-62 5.0 30 1.09

8 TSp-22 MRTU 12N18-63 5.1 30 1.09
9 Industrial oil 45 GOST 1707-51 7.7 40 1. 52
I0 IS-45 GOST 8675-62 7.9 40 1.52
11 Industrial oil 50 (SU) GOST 1707-51 8.3 50 1. 95
12 Autom otive tra nsm ission VTU TNZ GOST 143-64 I0.0 50 1. 95
oil TS-10 (blend of oils
7 and 28)
13 Blend of oils 16 and 7 10.0 40 1.52
14 Blend of oils 1 and 19 11.4 30 1. 09
(25/75)
15 DS-II MRTU 38-1-220-66 11.4 40 1.52
16 Solvent-treating ex- 15.8 55 2. 17
tract T ~ - 1 5
17 Automotive transmission MRTU 38-1-150-65 15--17 41 1. 56
oil TS-14. 5
18 Tractor oil AK-15 GOST 1862-63 15.8 48 1. 87
19 Aviation oil MS-20 GOST 1013-49 20.7 45 1.'/3
20 Aviation oil MS-20S GDST 9320-60 22.4 50 1.95
21 Cylinder oil 24 GOST 1841-51 23.8 53 2.08
22 Experimental b r i g h t - 26.4 58 2.30
stock, Volgograd
refinery
23 P-28 (brightstock) GOST 6480-53 26.5 66 2. 65
for roiling mills
24 PS-28 Corightst ock) GOST 12672-67 29.9 55 2.1'/
for rolling mills
25 Autotractor trans- GOST 542-50 30.3 59 2.34
mission oil
(Nigrol) L
26 Experimental b r i g h t - 42. 5 7O 2. 82
stock, Volgograd
refinery
27 The same 51.4 70 2. 82
28 Cylinder oil 52 GOST 6411-52 56.2 93 3. 82
(Vapor)

*Tested with oil temperature 15ffC at entrance to engagement zone.

"I"Relative to the lowest-viscosity oil tested, i.e., transformer oiL

53
TABLE 2. Load-Carrying Capacity of Gears Based on 8cuffing Criterion for Lubrication with T8-14.5 Oil Plus Vari-
ous Additives (Oil temperature at entrance to gear engagement zone 7(YC, n = 4000 rpm)

Load-carrying
Additive
Additive Scuff load c a p a c i t y relative
content
No. Oil Ps in to TS-14. 5 base
of off,
arbitrary units oil (based
d esi gna tion active elements wt. %
on torque)

1 Base oil TS-14.5 41 1.0

Oil T8-14.5 with additives from USSR production

VNII NP-370 CaS 5 Motor oil M12V 75 1.9

PMSya CaS 2
LZ-23k S 0.5
VNII NP-370 Ca, S 11 Motor oil M14G 85 2.2
PMSya Ca, S 4
LZ-23k S 0.5
VNII NP-370 Ca, S 15 Motor oil M16D, VTU 75 1.9
PMSya Ca, S 6 NP 161-64
LZ-23k S 0.5
OT-1 (sulfurized S 5 Transmission oil T-14B 89 2.3
terpenes) [ 5] MRTU 12N 34-63
LZ-6/9 [51 The same 98 2.6
Batch A
122 3.3
Batch B
Sul'fol [5] C1, S n
130 3.5
Sul'fol DF-11 [5! CI, S Transmission oil, VTU 163 4.4
S, P, Zn NP 155-B-26
Khloref-40 [5] P, C1 Transmission oil for 183 5.0
truck rear axles

Oil TS-14. 5 with imported additives

10 Anglamol 70 S, C1, P 9 125 3.3

11 Anglamol 93 S, C1, P, Zn 9.5 153 4.1
12 Montogear B S, C1, P, Zn 5.5 133 3.7
13 The same The same 10 155 4.2
14 Santopoid 22R 1 The same 6.5 138 3.7
15 The same The same 10 185 5.0

Note: The VNII NP-370 and PMSya are detergent additives; the others are antiscuff (EP) additives.

with some sliding, the coefficient of friction, f , will decrease as the oil viscosity is increased. This leads to a
lowering of the gear-tooth temperature. Consequently, in order to create enough frictional work and heat e v o l u -
tion to reach the critical temperature for scuffing, the load that must be applied is greater for lower values of ;f,
i.e., for oils with higher viscosities.
Independent of this, since an increase in viscosity promotes the hydrodynamic effect, this increase in visco-
sity should be a c c o m p a n i e d by an increase in the thickness of the oil layer and hence by an increase in the load at
which scuffing occurs. However, because of the sliding of the teeth, their surfaces are heated to such an extent
that the true viscosity of the oil in the contact zone is effectively lower than at the initial engagement of the teeth.
From this poing of view, an increase in viscosity very often will fail to give the expected effect.

As is well known, petroleum oils contain natural polar, a c t i v e substances such as resins, acids, and sulfur c o m -
pounds, and also polarizable a r o m a t i c hydrocarbons. These materials are capabIe of creating adsorbed films at the
friction surface that can protect against grabbing of the surfaces under moderate conditions of friction and at tern-

54
TABLE 3. Load-Carrying C a p a c i t y of Gears Based on Scuffing Criterion for Lubrication with C o m m e r c i a l A d d i t i v e -
Containing Oils (Oil temper ature at entrance to gear e n g a g e m e n t zone 7ffC, n = 4000 rpm)

Data on oil Load -carrying

c a p a c i t y relative
Scuff load
to nonadditive
No, Ps,
viscosity oil of similar
GOST or TU arbitrary units
oil at application of oil viscosity
spec. no.
IO(YC, cS (based on torque)

MT-16p GOST 6360-58 16.1 For internal combus- 40 1.0

tion engines
VNII NP 4U-2 GOST 10817-64 9.5 For aircraft reduction 48 1.2
gears
VNII NP 4U-2S The same 9.5 The same 45 1.2
GT-50 MRTU 3 8 - 1 - 2 5 6 - 3.6 For fluid transmissions 65 3.0
67 with gears
Oil for a u t o m o - GOST 4002-53 22.0 For automotive trans- 75 1.4
tive gearboxes m issi on s
and steering
gear
TAp-10 with GOST 8412-57 10.2 The same II0 3.0
LZ-319
additive
T A p - 15 with The same 15.0 The same 103 2.5
LZ-6/9
additive
The s a m e The same 16.1 The same 98 2.4
Oil for hypoid GOST 4003-53 24. 7 For automotive rear 104 2.1
gears axles with hypoid
(Batch A * ) gears
I0 The same The same 21.7 The same 123 2.6
(Batch Bt" )
11 The same The same 24. 0 The same 130 2.6
(Batch C)

* Sulfur content I. 7%.

"["Sulfur content 2. 6%

peratures below I00-150~ Since the composition, pro-

perties, and concentration of such compounds in the oil
I I l L ''

are not governed by specification and not even d e t e r -

mined, the antiseuff properties of individual batches of
the same grade of oil m a y vary to some degree.
O It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the antiscuff pro-
perties of oils 3, II, 12, 16, 23, and 28 are significantly
CA
oO better than average, and those of oils 6 and 14 are sub-
tO
2 3 • 6 810 20 3 0 ~ G0801~
stantially poorer. This m a y be explained on the follow-
Absolute viscosity ing basis: oil 28 has a high content of resins (6.6%0) and
of aromatic hydrocarbons (42%); oil 12 is oil 28 plus d i -
Fig. 2. Scuff load Ps as a function of absolute viscosity luent. Oil 16 (an extract) consists of a r o m a t i c hydrocar-
of oil at temperat~e 0 at which it enterstooth-engage- bons, resins, and other polar, active compounds that are
ment zone. Test conditions: Temperature O = 7ffC extracted in the solvent refining of residual oils.
(except 150~ for oil 3); speed of small gear 4000rpm.
Numbers at e x p e r i m e n t a l points correspond to oil n u m - It should b e noted that oils 25 (Nigrol) and 13 (ex-
bers in Table 1; number of runs on each oil coded as tract plus diluent) also contain r e l a t i v e l y large amounts
follows; O) one run; e) 2 to 5 runs; A) 3 runs. of polar and polarizable substances, but their antiscuff
properties proved to be only average.

55
 For oils 11 and 23, no clear relation could be established between c h e m i c a l composition and their good a n t i -
scuff properties. These oils were produced from select Baku etudes and are considered to be high-quality oils, even
though no one apparently has ever obtained any specific data on their lubricating qualities. Possibly the r e l a t i v e l y
high l o a d - c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y of the gears when lubricated with these oils can be explained by higher p i e z o c o e f f i c i -
ents of viscosity of these oils; this theory needs checking.

Of special interest is the synthetic ester oil 3, in which the molecules contain polar groups. It was tested at
150~C instead of the 70~C used for the petroleum oils, and it showed good antiscuff properties in spite of the e x t r e m e -
ly low viscosity. This result is of particular interest since it should have b e e n expected that, with a bulk oil t e m -
perature of 150~C, any polar, active substances in the oil should not be adsorbed on the tooth surfaces.

The poor antiscuff properties of the two blends of the same type, oils 6 and 14, cannot be explained at present.
These results were based on single tests on each oil, rather than the 2 to 6 tests used for the other oils.

The oils from sour crudes did not show any advantage over those oils of similar viscosity but from low-sulfur
crudes (see oils 1 and 5, 9 and 10, 19 and 20), and oil 24 proved to be worse than oil 23. These results deviate from
those obtained in four-ball tests [4] indicating that the antiscuff properties of oils from sour crudes were somewhat
better. Deviations between results of different tests are, however, not significant; apparently such deviations are
explained by the nonidentical conditions of contact between the rubbing surfaces of the gear teeth and those of the
balls in the four-ball tester. In the gear tests, the contact t i m e is e x t r e m e l y short; in the four-ball tester, the con-
tact is constant (for the lower balls).

From the data of Table 1, a c o m p a r a t i v e rating of antiscuff efficiency (under the particular conditions of these
tests) can b e given for the basic grades of oil in the domestic inventory of nonadditive oils. The corresponding data
are presented in the form of absolute values of Ps and coefficients of relative load-carrying c a p a c i t y that are propor-
tional to the greatest load ( P s - 5 ) that is borne by the gears up to the onset of scuffing. As can be seen, there is a l -
most a fourfold variation in the s c u r f ' l i m i t e d l o a d - c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y of the gears when different oils are used as l u -
bricants.

In the second series of tests, oils were blended from TS-1r 5 base oil (oil 17 in Table 1) and various additives.
These results, listed in Table 2, provide the basis for the conclusions presented in the following paragraphs.

The use of various additives in this base oil gave increases in gear l o a d - c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y (based on torque)
to at least double that of the base oil, up to a m a x i m u m of five times that of the base oil. These figures d e m o n -
strate the kind of an effect that can be obtained from efficient EP additives.

It is interesting to note that the l o a d - c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y of the motor oil can be doubled by the use of only
0. 5~/o of the sulfur-containing EP additive LZ-23k. Such oils are very promising as single-grade oils for the lubrica-
tion of engines and transmissions of transport trucks and other machinery powered by internal combustion engines.

Oils 2-7 (Table 2) are suitable in antiscuff properties for lubrication of ordinary geared transmissions operat-
ing under severe conditions. Oils 8 and 9 can be used as hypoid gear lubricants.

Oil 9 is a typical representative of the most effective EP (hypoi'd) oils. Only 2% of the additive Khloref-40
is sufficient to increase the transmittable torque (in comparison with the base oil) by a factor of 5. Oil with such an
additive is being used in r e a r - a x l e hypoid gears on trucks such as the GAZ-53.

The results obtained with the additive L Z - 6 / 9 m e r i t some attention. Differences between two batches of
this additive caused a 25~/o difference in scuff load.

It is evident from Table 2 that the additives of the leading foreign firms are on the same Order as the UssR
additives in antiscuff efficiency.

In the third series of tests, c o m m e r c i a l a d d i t i v e - c o n t a i n i n g transmission oils were examined. The test results,
which are listed in Table 3, show that the antiscuff efficiency of these oils varies over wide limits, depending on the
properties of the additives and base oils. Oils 1-3 (Table 3) contain additives that are not primarily intended for
protection against scuffing. Oil 1 has a detergent additive, oils 2 and 3 multifunctional additives. Hence, these oils
are rather mild in antiscuff properties. Oil 4 has a low viscosity because of its intended application; an EP additive
compensates for the poor l o a d - c a r r y i n g c a p a c i t y of the low-viscosity base oil.
Oils 5-8 have m o d e r a t e l y good antiscuff properties. They are used in nonhypoid automotive transmissions.
Oil 9 is used in the hypoid r e a r - a x l e gears of USSR passenger cars ("Volga," "Moskvich"), even through its antiscuff
properties would not be adequate for use in truck r e a r - a x l e hypoid gears.

56
 Since the antiscuff properties of many oils still are not governed by specification, the quality of individual
batches of a given grade of oil may vary quite substantially, as shown previously (oil 6, Table 2) and as shown by
the data on oil 9, Table 3. These variations are evidence for the urgent need to introduce specification limits on
the antiscuff properties of all lubricating oils intended for critical service.

LITERATURE CITED

1. Yu. A. Rozenberg and I. ~. Vinogradova, Lubrication of Machine Mechanisms [in Russian], Oostoptekhizdat
(1960).
2. Yu. A. Rozenberg, in: Methods for Rating EP and Antiwear Properties of Lubricating Materials [in Russian],
Izd. Nauka (1969).
3. Load-Carrying Capacity for Oils, IAE Gear Machine, IP 166/65, IP Standards for Petroleum and Petroleum
Products (1965).
4. Yu. A. Rozenberg, Vest. Mashinostr., No. 4 (1967).
8. I. ~ Vinogradova, Oil Additives for Reduction of Friction and Wear [in Russian], Gostoptekhizdat (1963).

57