An Effective Bench Test for Hydraulic Fluid Selection Or. R.K. Tessmann Vice President FES, Inc. ABSTRACT The selection of a proper fluid to be used in a hydraulic system is an important part of any design effort. The hydraulic fluid must normally transmit, transform, and control the power from the system input to the output. In addition, the fluid is expected to provide lubrication and antiwear protection to many of the other components in the system. Although there are at least 22 parameters which describe a hydraulic fluid, most of these parameters are well defined. However, the antiwear and lubrication properties of a hydraulic fluid deserve more discussion. There are several test methods which have been developed to assess the antiwear properties of liquids. Most of these procedures are intended to evaluate fluids other than those directed toward use in a hydraulic system. This paper will present a bench type wear test method designed to overcome the recognized problems of other wear test procedures. Developed by the authors at the Fluid Power Research Center, formerly at ‘Oklahoma State University, this bench test method is called the Gamma Wear System. In addition to describing this type of method, the paper will present actual test data obtained from hydraulic fluids. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Hydraulic fluids, whether mineral based or any of the fire resistant types, are the life blood of the hydraulic system. The properties and characteristics of the system fluid can make all Tora presentation at SAE Off-Road Machinery Conference, Milwaukee, WI Dr. Ing T. Hong President FES, Inc. the difference in the world to the success or failure of the components. Lobmeyer (1) reported at the 197 SAE Earthmoving Industry Conference that hydraulic fluid can be just as effective in improving the system service life as good filtration and the use of contaminant insensitive components. Different hydraulic fluids are needed under various operating conditions. However, an effective fluid for any hydraulic system should enhance efficiency, promote reliability, reduce wear, and resist degradation (2). Obviously, a low ‘compressibility (high bulk modulus) is necessary to achieve these goals. In addition, the ability of the system fluid to reduce friction is a very important consideration. The degradation of the fluid with both time and operation is a factor which must be considered in the selection of hydraulic fluids. However, one of the most critical characteristics of a fluid is the ability to reduce wear and promote long component life. Without the use of additives to enhance their properties, the fluids available for use in hydraulic systems would have a very limited working range. Although there are a large number of parameters and characteristic which describe a hydraulic fluid, most of these properties are well defined. However, the antiwear and lubrication properties of a hydraulic fluid need a better figure of merit for selection purposes. There are several test methods which have been developed to assess the antiwear properties of liquids. Unfortunately, most of these procedures are intended to evaluate fluids other than those used in hydraulic systems. The bench Sept. 13-15, 1993type wear test methods are designed for lubricating oil. The test procedures normally utilized for hydraulic fluids consist of an entire hydraulic system. In order to avoid the cost and complexity associated with a complete hydraulic system and to eliminate the short comings of standard bench type wear tests, researchers at the Fluid Power Research Center, formerly at Oklahoma State University, introduced a bench test entitled the Gamma Wear Test System. This paper will describe the Gamma Wear Test System and present actual data obtained from tests on actual hydraulic fluids. 2.0 TECHNICAL BACKGROUND The factors which are critical in considering the wear rate of fluid power components are (3): ‘Area of surface in contact Surface roughness and geometry Material properties Applied load Sliding speed of surfaces All of these factors are very important in determining the wear rate of hydraulic components and, in fact, directly or indirectly affect the durability, reliability, and life of the hydraulic system. A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the first six of these factors and some theoretical formulations have been developed (4). The investigation into fluid properties, however, have been focused on such characteristics as viscosity and lubricity with very little attention to the antiwear parameters. The most comprehensive effort directed toward the evaluation of the antiwear properties of hydraulic fluids resulted in the development of standards (e.g. ASTM-D-2882) which utilized a complete hydraulic system involving a pump such as the vane pump. Not only are these tests complicated and involve an abundance of equipment, they are also built around a particular component (pump) which may not be manufactured over the long term. Therefore, investigators have relied upon several bench-type tests to appraise the influence of antiwear additives (5). The most commonly used bench-type wear tests that have been used for hydraulic fluids are shown in Table 1. The Shell tests, as shown in Fig. 1, involve three stationary balls and one rotating ball which are located in a cup of the test fluid. The configuration for the Falex wear tester, as shown in Fig. 2 , consists of two stationary Vee blocks which are loaded against a rotating journal. The bearing blocks and the journal are immersed in a retaining cup of the fluid under test. The Timken Wear Test concept consists of a stationary rectangular bar loaded against rotating cup as shown in Fig. 3. As is the case with the Falex tester, the Timken tester wear specimen are submerged in a cup of test fluid. It should be noted that in none of these bench-type wear test methods is the temperature of the fluid controlled. In addition, the contamination level fo the fluid being tested is not under control. Instead, both of these parameters are allowed to vary in relationship to the wear process occurring during the test. In order to make a rational selection of hydraulic fluid from a wear protection standpoint, a test procedure was needed with the following characteristics: © It should be a bench type test that is as simple as possible © It should provide for fluid circulation in order to control both temperature and contamination level @ tt should provide a specimen configuration which will simulate a real world tribological process © It should provide a wide range of loading and relative speed between the wearing surface To incorporate these characteristics, eliminate the short comings of the standard bench type wear tests and avoid the complexity of a complete component test, the authors, while at the Fluid Power Research Center (formerly at ‘Oklahoma State University), introduced a bench test entitled the Gamma Wear Test System. This system incorporated all of the characteristics which are needed for basic fluid selection and some characteristics which expand its capability.Table 1 Common Bench Type Wear Tests = Type of Type of Machine Friction oe eee Shell (four- Stationary | Assess the load-wear index and ball) EP. Sliding balls — | weld point under severe ASTM-2783 Rotating ball | conditions. Shell (four- Stationary | Assess the anti-wear properties of ball) Wear Sliding balls — | test sample and wear scar of ball ASTM-2266 Rotating ball_| under light load condition. Stationary V- | Assess the wear properties of fluid fot ead blocks — | by the number of ratchet-type properties test | Sliding i Rotating | mechanism to keep constant load STM D-2670 Z journal _| over a fixed test time. Stationary V- fle are o blocks — | Assess the load-carrying properties properties test | Sliding Roun Faaaie Reed RenaipGaaa Rotating | of fluid by increasing the load. journal Assess the load-carrying capacity cri Stationary _ | &f lubricating properties by di determining the minimum load at test Sliding block — e : eae oe which scoring or seizure occurs ating CUP | and the maximum load that it cannot occur. STATIONARY BLOCKS eo RETAINING CUP Fig. 2: Falex Specimen Configuration Shell Four Ball Tester can various fluids be evaluated, but different material combinations can be tested with one For example, the Gamma Wear Test System can _ fluid. bee used with different material combinations and various loading conditions. Therefore, not onlyLOAD FRICTIONAL FORCE ROTATING CUP Fig. 3: Timken Wear Specimen 3.0 THE GAMMA WEAR TEST SYSTEM After carefully exploring the bench type wear testing apparatus available, many features of the Falex Wear Test machine loading system were selected. The bearing loading mechanism used in the Gamma Wear Test System is illustrated in Fig. 4. This type of loading mechanism permits the wear specimen to be loaded from a fraction of a pound to several hundred pounds by simply using various calibrated springs. The wear specimen incorporated in the Gamma Wear Test System are not of the Vee-block design as normally found in the Falex tester. The Gamma System uses a journal identical in dimensions to that of the Falex, however, the bearings are constructed to approach the configuration of a journal bearing, as shown in Fig. 5. The circuit schematic for this new wear test method as shown in Fig. 6. As a result of the unique features shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the Gamma Weer Test System provides complete freedom in the selection of bearings and journal mating pairs. The bearings are designed with the critical 120° bearing surface needed to provide linear wear test results and a stable wearing condition. In this system, the mating pairs can be subjected to various speeds, loads, temperatures, cleanliness levels, and circulating flow. The primary advantage of the Gamma Wear System lies in the ability to simulate any BEARING LOAD SPRING LOAD WHEEL Fig. 4: Loading Mechanism for the Gamma Wear Test System oO JOURNAL, Revoives 0 ~ 2600 com BRASS Lenina PIN —_ 1208, L/D = 2 BEARINGS (brass) Fig. 5: Journal and Bearing Pairs for Gamma Wear Test System lubrication regime. As shown in the Stribeck Curve (6, 7) of Fig. 7, the lubrication regime will depend upon the viscosity of the fluid, the relative velocity between the wear surfaces, and the load imposed on the wearing interface. Therefore, by changing the speed of rotation or the load applied to the bearing, any lubrication regime can be imposed during the test. Such a broad range of control parameters permits the controlled testing with the Gamma Wear test System to duplicate almost any conceivableFLU FROM vagusis -————— fannie eee svete nee —+ reTuAN (0 2600 rom) fee Fo Pont SORT pressure =] ro ‘GAUGE HEAT exCHANGER Test wean. MECHANISM 3 GLEAN FLU yest cur ABRASIVE WEAR ‘Test cRCUT PenstALTIC pum Fig. 6: Circuit Schematic for Gamma Wear Test System operating condition that may be experienced in a specific application. FRICTION COEFFICIENT (0 ISCOSITY n x VELOCITY wy TOAD w Fig. 7: The Stribeck Curve and the Three Basic Lubrication Regimes 4.0 TEST RESULTS USING THE GAMMA WEAR TEST SYSTEM. Tests conducted at both the Fluid Power Research Center and FES, Inc. have assessed the antiwear characteristics of many different fluids using various temperatures, speeds, and load conditions, along with a broad spectrum of bearing materials. As shown in Fig. 8, the [ seeed- 00 %em [J | 4) | Rus Mice dro [Tempera °C | ond "320 8 10 t SB 800 L I L 7 ETH ADVANCED (os in ASTM 02670) GEAR Ti WEAR NO TIME (min) Fig. 8: Effect of Particle Size Distribution on the Anti-Wear Characteristics of MIL-L-2104 Class 10 Gamma Wear Test can distinguish between thewear created by various particle size distributions entrained in the test fluid. In addition, the Gamma Test can effectively distinguish between various fluids. Fig. 9 illustrates the results of Gamma tests conducted on a widely used hydraulic fluid (MIL- H-5606) and a lubrication fluid often used in hydraulic systems (MIL-L-2104). The Gamma Wear test has been employed to evaluate the characteristics of high water content fluids as shown in Fig. 10. The effect of fluid temperature is illustrated in Fig. 11 using a steel journal and brass bearings with a base stock fluid containing one percent ZDDP antiwear additive tested at various temperatures. Finally, Fig. 12 reveals the influence of high unit loading using a steel journal and steel bearing with both an antiwear fluid (MIL-L-2104) and a straight base stock oil.v MIL-H-5606 O MIL~L-2104 CLi0 No. of Teeth Advanced 15 20 25 30 Test Time (Min) Fig. 9: Antiwear Characteristics of MIL-H-5606 and MIL-L-2104 Class 10 5.0 CONCLUSION The users of hydraulic systems are relying much more today than ever before upon the system fluid to protect components, improve operation, and increase service life. In addition, the severity of the expected duty cycle and the demand of fire resistant characteristics means that the hydraulic system design needs more and better information concerning the performance capability and limitations of hydraulic fluids. The oil suppliers have accomplished an excellent job in providing most of the necessary performance data on their products. However, in the case of the antiwear properties, such data has been severely limited by the test procedures available. Itis firmly believed that the Gamma Wear Test System eliminates the problems. associatedwith the bench type standard tests in use today. In addition, it is simple enough to recommend it over the pump type tests. The broad range of operating conditions which can be used with this tester produces data which is extremely valuable to the hydraulic component and system designer as well as those who use the high performance hydraulic systems on the market today.Gamma Wear 18 +f Load: 440N Speed: 290 rpm Temp 38°C Test Time (minutes) Fig. 10: Antiwear Characteristics of High Water Content FluidsSteel on Brass Load: 440 N 40°C amma Wear 0 15 30 Test Time (minutes) Fig. 11: Antiwear Characteristics of Base Stock Oil with 1% Antiwear AdditiveGamme Wear 18 Steel on Steel Load: 2200 N | Temp: 38°C 16 14 S 6 MIL-L-2104 Oil 2104 Oil. o 15 30 Test Time (minutes) Fig. 12: Antiwear Characteristics of Base Stock Versus Antiwear OilReferences "Lobmeyer, Raymond J., etal, "Hydraulic Fluid Contaminant Sensitivity Test"; No. 770543, Earth Moving Industry Conference, Peoria, IL, SAE Central Illinois Section, (18-20 April 1977). Chu, J. and R.K. Tessmann, “Additive Packages for Hydraulic Fluids"; The BFPR Journal, 1979, 12:111-117. Rainwater, R.L,, "An Experimental Study of Wear and Effects of Anti-Wear Fluids Development of a Wear Test Model"; Sixth Annual Fluid Power Research Conference, Fluid Power Research Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, ub yrs Marnoun, M.M., "Fundamentals of Modern Theory of Friction and Wear"; 72- W-4 Sixth Annual Fluid Power Research Conference, Fluid Power Research Center, ‘Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 1972. Chu, 5. Arrington, and R.K. Tessmann, "A Bench Wear Test for Hydraulic Fluids"; The BFPR Journal, 1980, 13:189-194. Hong, LT., "Effect of System Filtration Characteristics on Tribological Wear of Rotating Elements"; PhD Dissertation, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 1980. Stribeck, R., "Die Wasentlickeeen Eigenschaften der Glut - Und Rollenlarger"; VDI-Zeitschrift, 46 (1902), 1341, 1342, 1463.