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Article  in  Lubrication Engineering · September 1983

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Development of a Fouf-Ball Wear
Test Procedure to Evaluate
Automotive Lubricating Oils
RICHARD S. GATES (Member, ASLE) and
STEPHEN M. HSU (Member, ASLE)
Natlonal Bureau ol Standards
Washington, OC 20234
Bench wear tests are sometimes used to eaaulate antiwear char-
acteristics of lubricating oils in engtnes' howeaer feu correlatioru
Inthis study, uarious four-ball uear test method's
are published.
for eualuating the antiuear characteristics of automotiue lubricants
uere examined. Wear test procedures such as slow and fast sliding
speeds, load-capacitl tests, and step-loading tests were eualuated
wing a set of ASTM engine sequence IIID reference oils of known
wear performance. Three test procedures were deueloped that cor-
related with IIID sequence wcar ralings.
INTRODUCTION
Automotive crankcase oil performance is defined by field
tests and laboratory engine sequence tests' In API/SAE/
ASTM SF classification, Passes in four engine dynamometer
tests are required for oil qualification' These are:
(l) II-D rust protection
(2) III-D oxidation resistance, wear protection, oil con-
sumption
(3) V-D low-temperature dispersancy, wear protection,
deposit-forming tendencies
(4) L-38 copper-lead bearing corrosion resistance, shear
stability.
For the last decade the engine sequence III test has been
the standard engine test to evaluate oxidation and wear
characteristics of automotive engine oils.
The engine tests are generally time consuming and ex-
pensive. Therefore, various small-scale laboratory bench tests
have been developed and used to screen oils for quality and
consistency. There are different opinions regarding the value
and significance of such bench tests. There are also very
few published studies relating bench test results to engine
test results. This study will examine various bench 4-ball
wear test procedures for correlations with sequence III-D
engine wear test data.
The four-ball wear tester was chosen because it is available
Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting
in Cincinnati, Ohio,
May 10-13,1982
Journal of the American Soclety of Lubrlcation Englnc€rs
Voluur 39,9, 561-569
LUBRICATION ENGINEERING
(1s3)
commercially and used extensively in industry for wear test-
ing. The test is easy to conduct, well controlled, and uniform
test specimens are available at low cost. In wear testing, the
specimens basically undergo a destructive evaluation pro-
cess. Test repeatability depends heavily on the uniformity
of the test specimen. In the four-ball test, bearing balls with
roundness specification of 0.000635 mm (0.000025 inch)
are readily available.
TEST PROCEDURES
A procedure can be defined as a particular set of oper-
ating conditions and sequences which are capable of certain
precision. In the case of a four-ball wear tester, these con-
ditions include speed/load combination, duration, bulk oil
temperature, and cleaning methods involved.
A variety of load and speed combinations have been used
by previous workers to study basic mechanisms in boundary
lubrication (1)-(7).Some test procedures designed in par-
ticular to evaluated engine oils used the load/speed com-
bination of 1800 rpm and 50 kg (8), (9) but no correlation
with field performance was given. Traditionally, with the
four-ball wear tester, researchers use a high-load, low-speed
combination (30 to 60 kg, 600 rpm) to study boundary lu-
brication, or use more severe high-load, high-speed con-
dition (30 to 60 kg, 1500 to 3000 rpm) to study transition
temperatures (7) for industrial lubricants. Brown (1) uses a
load-capacity test procedure to evaluate lubricants. This
procedure consists of a set of individual tests as a function
of load that define the transition load of a lubricant, i.e.,
the load at which the wear increases dramatically. No sys-
tematic study has been found in the literature that relates
four-ball wear test results to automotive engine wear be-
havior.
In engine sequence test III-D, the critical engine parts
examined for wear are the cam and lifters. The primary
lubrication mode under constant-speed highway driving
conditions is generally accepted as elastohydrodynamic lu-
brication. Most of the wear occurs in stop-and-go, low-speed
driving cycles, under which boundary lubrication is a more
predominant mode. In simulating the wear conditions of
an engine using a four-ball wear tester, major limitations
561

should be recognized. The metallurgy, surface finish, con-
tact geometry, oil degradation mechanism, and oil supply
modes between the two systems are different. Therefore,
in order to obtain a proper correlation between four-ball
wear procedure wear test results, and III-D wear results,
the basic mechanism of wear has to be simulated. A para-
metric study of various speed/load combinations on rhe four-
ball wear tester using reference oils of known engine per-
formance may identify this combination that simulates this
mechanism, if it exists.
The objective of this study, therefore, is to examine var-
ious speed/load combinations within the boundary lubri_
cation regime using oils of known engine wear perfor-
mance. The particular load/speed combination rhat correlares
may define a procedure that may simulate the key mech-
anisms at rhe cam and lifter contact. For the purpose of this
study, four-ball test procedures are classified into the fol-
lowing categories:
(l) Slow sliding under high load
(2) Fast sliding under moderate to high load
(3) Load-capacity rests.
CRITERIA FOR CORRELATION
Comparison of bench wear tests and actual engine wear
results was made using ASTM Sequence III-D engine test
stand qualificarion reference engine oils (REO). The se-
quence III-D test consisrs of a 5.7-liter (350-cubic-inch) Vg
engine run on an engine dynamometer. The engine is run
under controlled conditions for 64 hours and the lubricant
is evaluated for oxidation stability, wear protecrion, and oil-
consumption characteristics. The performance of the ref-
erence oils has been established through exrensive engine
dynamometer and field tesring (10). Six available III-D ref-
erence oils were used in this study.
According to engine resr data (l 1), it is possible to
-wear
group the reference oils into two categories with respect to
wear as shown in Table l. REO 76A, 7bB, and 79A can be
grouped as low wear oils and 778,77C, and 72A-l as rel-
atively high wear oils. The degree of correlation between
the bench test and the engine sequence results are, there-
fore, determined by comparing the bench wear test results
to the engine sequence test wear data.
Taslr l-ASTM ENGTNE SrqurNcr III-D TEsI
Avrnacr Cau
aNo
RrrrnEncr Vrscosrty WEAR
Orr- Gnaor m x
REO 76A l0w-40
REO 75B l0w-30
REO 79A l0w-30
REO 77B* I 0w-40
REO 77CX 30 277
REO 72A-l* 30 256
*Test terminated before 64 hours.
562
1
EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURES
Two four-ball wear testers were used in this study. One
of the appararus is a Falex #6 four-ball machine. The load
system consists of a lever arm and weight arrangement ca_
pable of giving loads of over 227 kg (500 lbs). The tem_
perature of the bulk oil is controlled by a heater in the wall
of the test chamber. The torque at the contact is measured
by a force transducer and the results are continuously re_
corded on a strip chart recorder. The original test cup re_
quired 85 ml of lubricant for each test, however, a modified
test cup was constructed that used only l0 ml of lubricant.
The second four-ball wear tester was custom built to NBS
specifications. The machine design was largely based on
Brown's modification (1) of the Shell four-ball wear tester.
The load is applied by an air pisron rhrough an air bearing
so that friction can be measured with minimum drag. The
friction is measured by a force transducer that provides
output to a strip chart recorder. The rotating axial shaft
holding the top ball is held by three sers of precision bear-
ings designed to minimize vibrational tendencies at different
rotating speeds. The load and speed range were extended
to 300 kg and l0 000 rpm, respecrively. Both wear resrers
have automatic torque safety shutoff to protect the motor.
Since thorough cleaning of the test specimen and equip_
ment is important in ensuring test precision, the following
cleaning steps were used. The test specimen s, 12.7-mm (Vz,_
in) diameter 52100 steel grade 25 Ep ball bearings, were
initially cleaned in batches of forty by successive solutions
of hexane, Stoddard solvent, and acetone, in an ultrasonic
bath. These balls were kept under hexane.
Just prior to
testing, four balls were again cleaned by successive baths of
hexane and acetone in an ulrrasonic bath and wiped with
a clean lintless tissue and dried with nitrogen gas. The test
cup and ball holder were rinsed with hexane, rhen acerone,
wiped with a clean lintless tissue, and dried with nitrogen
gas. The test cup was assembled with the specimens in place,
ten milliliters of the resr lubricanr was added to rhe cup,
and the entire assembly was placed on the loading platform
for testing.
Upon completion of a test, wear scar measurements were
made with an optical microscope at l00X with a graduated
reticle reading to the nearest 0.01 mm. The wear scar di-
ameters of eabh of the lower three balls were measured both
REFERENCE orr- Er.rcrNe wsen Dere
Lrrrrn SraNoeno NuMsrn
DrvrerroN WEAR OF
10-6 m x 10-6 RarrNc Tesrs
48 23 Low r7
46 25 Low l0
48 l5 Low 7
287 188 High 22
130 High 22
185 High 7
Seplember, r9S3 LUBRICATION ENGINEERtilc
parallel and perpendicular to the direction of sliding. The -I'esLr 2-TpsL' Pntr:tstox
six measurements were averaged to obtain the final wear
A. Conditions: 200 rpm , 75'C,60 min, 23 kg
scar diameter for the run. Theoretical wear volumes were
Otl Wr.en Scan Dteur,tn.n, mm
calculated according to the Feng-Fein equation (3)' (4).
REO 76A 0.33
0.32
TEST PRECISION 0.30
0.31
To measure test precision, six experiments were con-
0.31
ducted on reference oil 76,{ at 200 rpm and 23 kg. The 0.30
data are shown in Table 2A. Aug' 0.31
Test results using reference oil 77B at high load/speed Standard deviation + 0.01
combinations were less consistent than the other results as
B. Conditions: 600 rpm, 75'C,60 min,9l kg
shown in Table 28. These load/speed combinations were
close enough to the seizure load of the lubricant that minor Orl WEan SceN DIAMETER, mm

variations in test conditions determined whether or not a REO 77B 0.57

test would run to completion. Most of the results reported S

in this study are the average of two to three tests. 0.55

S

Parametric Study S

S indicates seizure. Test did not run to comPletion.

A parametric study was used to determine the effect of
load and speed on wear of the reference oils. The study
was run using a high-wear (77B) and low-wear (76A) ref-
erence oil. Selzure-f
The initial study was conducted at22.7 kg (50 lbs) and a Conditions: 7soc
I 10 60 minutes Selzure-
speed range of 100 to 3000 rpm. The results shown in Fig. I o ml 'lubrlcant
'10
t
suggest that rvear increases with increasing speed. At higher x

speeds, the increase in wear may be due, in part, to the

increase in overall sliding distance. Therefore, the data are
replotted as wear volume per linear distance traveled versus
speed. Figure 2 shows that in terms of the average wear
rate per sliding distance, the wear rate decreases with in-
creasing speed. This may be due to the increasing contri-
bution of elastohydrodynamic component of lubrication with
increasing speed.
In a four-ball wear test, depending on the speed and load
conditions, various combinations of boundary and elasto-
hydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication modes are possible.
Boundary lubrication is generally found under high contact
pressures and relatively low sliding speeds. EHD lubrication
is favored by lower contact pressures and higher sliding
speeds. At the beginning of every test, the contact area is
very small, consequently, the contact pressure is high and
boundary lubrication is favored. As wear progresses, the
area of contact increases, hence the pressure decreases.
Therefore, as the test progresses under the same load, the
boundary lubrication component may decrease and the EHD
component may increase. At some point, a steady-state wear
rate may be achieved. The horizontal portion of Fig. 2 may
represent such a steady state. This suggests that, under the
load selected, speed greater than 800 rpm may be under a
significant EHD component influence.
Based on the results obtained in this initial series, speeds
of 200, 600, and 1500 rpm were selected for further study.
Speeds of 200 rpm and 600 rpm are both under boundary
lubrication and 1500 rpm represents the conditions under
which wear is influenced by a more significant elastohydro-
dynamic component. Additional loads of 45,91, and 136
kg (100,200,300 lbs) were also used. Wear test results at
various speed/load combinations are given in Table 3.
Average wear results are presented in a bar chart in Fig' 3'
o 5 (1ov wear) REO 76A
e
o
4
! REO 778
3
o (high wear)
3
123'l 5 1020
Speed, RPM x 102
Flg. 1-Weat volume as a lunclion ol speed at 23 kg load
Error bars indicate the uncertainty of 10.02 mm. Results
at 200 rpm show a slight separation at 91 kg. The "low-
wear" reference oil produces a smaller wear scar than the
"high-wear" reference oil. Test results at 600 rpm show a
slight reverse correlation at low load. At 1500 rpm, the data
again show a reverse correlation at low load, but at higher
loads of 45 kg, a positive correlation is observed. Additional
tests were conducted at 200 rpm and 91 kg to include all
six reference oils. Results are given in Table 4, showing a
positive correlation between high- and low-wear reference
oils. The separation between the high- and low-wear ref-
erence oils, however, is small, about 0.05-mm wear scar
diameter. Reference oils 77C and 72A-l fail to protect to
surface adequately and seizure terminates the run prior to
completion of the test. These parametric study results in-
dicate that boundary lubrication under high-load conditions
are important in obtaining a correlation with III-D wear
results. One method commonly used to examine high-load
characteristics of lubricant is the load-capacity test. This was
studied next.

Journal ol tho Amerlcan Soclety ot Lubrlcatlon Engineera 563

 Load-Capacity Tests
Conditions: 75oC Load-capacity tests are generally used to determine the
60 mlnutes
]0 ml lubrlcant ability of a lubricant to prevent severe adhesive wear or
10 seizure. They consist of wear tests run at different and
progressively higher loads. The wear scar diameter data are
o
REO 76A (tow
plotted logarithmically versus load, as illusrrared in Fig. 4.
wear)
5l
The transition region indicated by points CD is known as
3 the incipient seizure load and defines the load capacity of
e REO 778 Salzuro
(hi9h wear) the lubricant. The load capacity is reported as the highest
I
3 +-Grc_/ I Solzure
load achieved prior to the incipient seizure region. At higher
loads, welding occurs (Point E). Under these conditions,
contact junction remperatures are so high that the lubri-
cating film is rendered ineffective. Massive adhesion then
1234510203{' leads to welding. In this portion of the study, we are inrer-
Speed, RpM x 102 ested in evaluating the load capacity (incipient seizure point)
Flg. 2-Average wear rate as a tuncilon ot spoed at 23 kg load
of the reference oils.

Taslr 3-CoRRELATION or Paneuttnrc Sruov wrrH III-D WEAR ron RrmnrNcr O[s 764, 77B
Conditions: 75'C, 60 min, lO-ml lubricant
Wren Scen Dreyr.ltn, mm

RnrrnrNcr 200 600 rpm I 500

Orr.s 23 kg 45 91 kg 136 23 kg 45 9l kg 23 45 kg 9l kg
76A 0.31 0.36 0.43
(Low wear) 0.39 0.42 0.67
0.5 r S S
S

778 0.30 0.32 0.37

(High wear) o.37 0.42 S
0.55 S S
S
S indicates seizure. Test did not run to completion.

lJ loe - Low wear Reference Cond it ions 75oc

0i1 60 minute duration
V I0 mI Lubricant
,r, - Hlgh Wear Reference

2OO RPM 600 RPr,l ]50O RPM

S c c
f t f t It
J

E
E

tr
o
{J
c.6 0.6 0.6
c)
E
tU
.rt
o
t{
6
a
o 0.4 0.4 0.4
!
rd
o
B

0.2 0.2 0.2

23\59 t36 23 \5 91 136 23 \5 9t t36
Load, kg Loaci, kE Load, kg
s indlcates seizure occured durJ-ng run
Fig.3-Parametric study rcsults: wear as a func-tlon ot speed and load lor reroronce olls 76A andTlB.

564 September, r9S3 LUBBICATION ENGTNEERTNG

 TABLE 5-LOAD CAPACITY OF SELECTED III-D OIM
Tanlt 4-PenAMETRlc Sruov Ween TEsr RESULTS oN
III-D REFERENcT. Otm er 200 rpm, 9l kg (200 lbs) er 200 rpm AND 60! .P-..........-
Conditions: 200 rpm, 200 lbs, 75'C, 60 min, LoAD CAPACII'Y, kg
lO-ml test samPle
Rrrrnr,xcr Otl 200 rpm 600 rpm
III.D Wren Scen
l5
REO 76.4 (low wear) 135
Wren Drertrrrr.
REO 75B (low wear) 135 90
REO RATINGS mm
REO 77B (high wear) 120 75
76A Low 0.49, 0.52
758 Low 0.50,0.51 REO 77C (high wear) 105 60

79A Low 0.50, 0.50

778 High 0.55, 0.55 The NBS modified four-ball wear tester was used' The
77C* High Seizure, Seizure automatic torque shutoff safety device terminates a run when
(0.60) (0.5e)
a seizure is encountered. Runs that seize, therefore, do not
72A-l* High Seizure, Seizure
complete the 60-minute test duration and the resulting wear
(0.5e) (0.60)
scars cannot be plotted. The seizure itself can be detected,
+Did not complete test. Number in parenthesis indicates size of wear scar at
however, by observing the accompanying sudden and large
termination point.
friction increase.
The load capacity of an oil is dependent on the speed
conditions chosen for the test. Initially, two speeds were
used to check for correlation with III-D results using four
reference oils. Table 5 shows that at 600 rpm the test is so
severe that there is no separation. At 200 rpm, the test
o E
severity is reduced. Separation between the high- and low-
o wear reference oils is achieved'
E Results from 200-rpm load-capacity tests on all six ref-
.g D erence oils are shown in Table 6. Repeat runs were made
1f
L on both sides of the seizure load to ensure that the load
(U
o capacity was well defined and repeatable. The results show
o a separation between the load capacity of the low-wear ref-
(! erence oils (135 kg) and the high-wear reference oils (120,
o 105, 90 kg). This shows that, as a class, the low-wear ref-
c erence oils have the ability to suPport a higher load than
=
o) the high-wear reference oils.
o The load-capacity test evaluates the load-carrying capa-
bility of a lubricant but several tests are required in order
to obtain a satisfactory determination. This is not only time
consuming but also requires a relatively large amount of
log load lubricant. To circumvent this, step loading in a single test
Fig. 4-Typical load caPacity Plot was explored to evaluate the load capacity of the oils' This

TABLE 6-LoAD-CAPACITY TEST RESULTS oN III-D RrFttsNcr' OIt-s

Conditions: 200 75"C, 60 min duration; 0.25 imin alr
Wr,en Scen Dtar'.m.rrn, mm
III-D
Loeo, kg
Wrer.
45 60 l5 90 105 120 135 150
RE,O RartNc 30

Low 0.42 0.49 0.50 0.54 0.55 Seizure

76A
0.56 Seizure
Low 0.53 0.55 0.57 Seizure
758
0.57 Seizure
Low 0.48 0.53 0.57 Seizure
79A
0.56 Seizure

778 High 0.33 0.40 0.50 0.62 Seizure

0.61 Seizure
77C High 0.51 0.58 0.60 Seizure
0.64 Seizure
72A-r High 0.36 0.42 0.48 0.54 Seizure
0.51 Seizure

56s
Joumal ol the Amorlcan Socloty ot Lubrlcatlon Englnoers
 Tolque overload,
(Seizure) nachine -+ Tenr-r 7-Srip-LoADrNc SErzuRE TEsr REsuLTs oN
tulned of: III-D RErrnrNCE OrLs
Conditions: 200 rpm, 75"C,9 kg (20 lb) load increment
per every 5 min
ENGINE Avrnecr.
SEqurNcE Srrzunr Srrzunr SraNoano
Rrrunr.Ncr Loao
I
WEAR LoAD Drvte.rroN
Orr- RA1'rNG kg kg kg
76A Low 200 200
200
i 758 Low 227 209 l5
l9l
209
209
79A Low 218 218
218
778 High 145 168 ll
163
r, ,e -+ l8l
Fig. S-Typical step loading seizure test ,riction trace 172
172
172
r63
o
77C High r27 132
136
o REO 778
I
REO 76A 72A-r High 127 132
r 136
o
E
o
o
o
o
o load-capacity test, the seizure point is detected during a run
't81
'15
91 136 by observing the accompanying sudden and large increase
Load, kg
Fig. 6-Step-loading seizure test at 200 rpm
in friction.
Figure 5 is an example of the friction trace obtained from
the step-loading seizure test. Each load increase is accom-
panied by its corresponding increase in friction. At point
e A, seizure took place as the lubricant could no longer protecr
115 the surface. This is manifested by the dramatic increase in
c
o friction shown. The location of the friction spike determines
o REO 778 REO 76A
Er0 the seizure point and the load at the seizure point is re-
o corded as the seizure load.
co-
Test conditions were selected by performing a parametric
=o study of speed and load using a represenrarive high- (77B)
o
oo and low- (764.) wear reference oil. A step-loading increment
45 91 136 181
Load, kg of 9 kg at 200 rpm was selected based on the results of
Fig. 7-Steploadlng seizure test at 500 rpm preliminary tests shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The seizure points
depicted here as a rapid increase in the coefficient of friction
show that at 600 rpm the difference in the seizure load of
the two oils was only 9 kg. At 200 rpm, rhe seizure loads of
has the advantage of requiring only one run for a load- both oils were increased but the seizure load for the low-
capacity determination. wear reference oil increased more. f-his increased the sep-
aration to 54 kg. Dara on all six reference oils are shown in
Step-Loading Seizure Tests Table. 7. The low-wear reference oils all have higher seizure
The step-loading seizure test evaluares the load-carrying loads than the high-wear reference oils. Reference oils 77B
capability of a lubricant but in a different manner than the and 75B gave slightly more erratic results than the other
classical load-capacitv tesr. The information is obtained in reference oils. Additional tests were run on these oils in
a single test rather than a series of many individual tests. order to determine the repeatability of the test procedures
The load is increased by increments during a test under in these worst cases. The standard deviation of the results
constant speed until seizure occurs. The seizure point, like for these two cases were 15 and ll kg. Using these values,
the incipient seizure region in the load-capacity test, indi- an uncertainty of -r l3 kg was assigned to the seizure loads.
cates that the load capacity of the lubricant has been ex- The results of the step-loading seizure tests are presented
ceeded and an accelerated wear condition exists. As in the in bar graph formar in Fig. 8. The separation between the

s66 Seplember, r9S3 LUBRICATION ENGTNEERTNG


Conditlons: 200 RPI'!
227 9 kg lncremnts
5 mlnutes/lord
level
t--Hi th l{ear-----.I
r8t
ll6
9I
45
72A-l 77C 77i 79L
III0 Reference 0lls
Flg. 8-stoPloading sslzure test rcaults on lll'D r€f€renco oils.
low-wear and high-wear reference oils correlates with III-
D Engine Sequence Test results.
It should be pointed out that, although the load-capacity
test and the step-loading seizure test both rate the ability of
an oil to protect the surface under high load, no direct
comparison of the seizure loads can be made between the
two test methods. This is due to the fact that seizure loads
are a function of the test conditions, and conditions for the
two test procedures are significantly different.
CONCLUSION
Three wear test procedures using the four-ball wear tester
have been evaluated using ASTM engine Sequence III-D
Reference oils. Based on the experimental results the fol-
lowing conclusions can be reached.
(l) Individual wear tests at a variety of speeds and loads
failed to distinguish any performance difference be'
tween the oils selected at most of the speed/load com-
binations. However, positive correlation between bench
test results and engine sequence III-D test results was
found at high load (91 kg) and low speed (200 rpm)
with all six reference oils. The seParation between oils
was small.
DISCUSSION
SIDNEY SHEN (Member, ASLE)
Union Oil Co. of California
Brea, California 92621
The authors are to be commended for their attempt to
derive a correlation between a bench wear test and the Se-
quence III-D engine test. The problem is very comPlicated
but is of great practical importance. Very few published
data in this area exist and systematic approaches like the
one used in this study should be welcomed and encouraged.
The idea of using a step-loading test to determine loading
capacity is interesting and should save a lot of time. I would
Journal of the Amorlcan Soclety of Lubrlcation Englnoors
(2) Load-capacity test results at 200 rpm correlated with
lJea
engine sequence III-D test results for all six reference
oils.
(3) Step-loading seizure test results at 200 rpm correlated
with engine sequence III-D test results for all six ref-
erence oils.
(4) Boundary lubrication apparently plays an important
role in the wear portion of the sequence III-D engine
test. The engine sequence III reference oils can be
separated according to their boundary lubrication
effectiveness under certain load/speed combinations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank Hilary Nottingham for her
work in conducting some of the wear tests, and the NBS
Recycled Oil Program for their financial support of this
758 76L work.
Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials
are identified in this paper in order to adequately specify
the experimental procedure. Such identification does not
imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Bu-
reau of Standards, nor does it imply that the materials or
equipment identified are necessarily the best available for
the purpose.
REFERENCES
(1) Brown, E. D., "Friction and wear testing with the modern four-ball
apparatus," Wear,17, pp 381-388 (1971).
(2) Miller, A. H., "Considerations in interpreting four-ball data," Wear,23'
pp l2l-127 (1973).
(3) Feng, I. M., " A new approach in interpreting the four-ball wear results,"
Wear,5, pp 275-288 (1962).
(4) Fein, R. S., "Measurement of Wear Volume and Interpretation of Re-
sults with Four-Ball Machines," Proc. 2nl Annual Conference of ASME
Lubric ation D iuision, Phrladelphia, PA ( I 959).
(J) Clinton, W. C., 'A Study of the Four-Ball Machine," NRL Report 3709
(Sept. 1950).
(6) Klaus, E. E. and Bieber, H. E., "Effects of Some Physical and Chemical
Properties of Lubricants on Boundary Lubrication, ASL E Traru., 7, pp
r-r0, (1964).
(7) Fein, R. S., "Transition Temperatures with Four-Ball Machine,",4SLE
Trarc., 5, pp 34-39 (1960).
(8) U.S. Patent 3,957,746. Assigned to Ethyl Corporation 1976.
(9) U.S. Patent 4,025,451. Assigned to Ethyl Corporation 1977.
(10) Groff, W. P. Jr., Roberts, C. E. and Lepisto, P. R., "New Lubricant Test
Procedures for Gasoline Engines from the Viewpoint of an Indepen-
dent Research Laboratory," Lubr. Enq.,36,4, pp 201-214 (1980).
(1/) ASTM Sequence III-D surveillance panel reports.
like to suggest that, when the authors run their four-ball
wear tests at different speeds, maybe the length of the test
should also be changed proportionally to provide a constant
number of total revolutions for every test. Like the results
in Table 3, the tests at higher speed may have a larger final
wear scar, but, on a wear-per-revolution basis, these tests
may have a smaller specific wear level because of the in-
crease in the elastohydrodynamic (EHD) mode.
The authors rely heavily on the incipient seizure point to
establish the correlation with III-D engine test. Incipient
seizure occurs when the lubricant film can no longer sep-
arate the surfaces and should be a function of both the
viscosity of the lubricant film and the chemistry of the sys-
567
 tem. From the results, it appears that the cam and lifter
wear in the Sequence III-D engine test occurred under
combined boundary and EHD lubrication conditions.
Again, I would like to congratulate the authors for their
work and hope that they continue their efforts in trying to
use bench scale equipment to study auromorive engine lu-
brication.
D!SCUSSION
FRED G. ROUNDS (Fellow, ASLE)
General Motors Research Laboratories
Warren, Mlchigan 48090
The developmenr of a simple bench test to predict engine
performance has been the dream of nearly everyone who
has studied the performance of antiwear additives and many
have tried. I am no exceprion. Although limited correlarions
have sometimes been achieved, these correlations generally
break down when the additive chemistry changes. Engine
sequence tests have had the same problem with some oils
that pass the sequence rest failing in the field. One of the
reasons for the periodic updating o[ the sequence tests has
been to modify the tesr so thar we can fail in the laboratory
those oils that engines in the field say should fail.
The present paper by Gates and Hsu represents another
attempt to find a correlation between a bench test and the
engine sequence tests. For their correlation studies, they
selected three similar good and three similar bad ASTM
reference oils which, incidentally, were nor part of the CRC
REO series and thus should not be referred to as REO oils
in the paper. No correlation or perhaps a reverse correlation
was observed for constant load 4-ball wear test conditions
well within the antiwear regime whereas a correlation was
obtained using a step load seizure procedure. Engine valve
train components fail by gradual wear, nor by seizure. Since
the antiwear additive concentration in most engine oils is
far above that needed to achieve a low wear scar diameter
in 4-ball wear tests, have the authors considered a procedure
whereby the candidate engine oil is diluted with a base oil
and the increase in wear scar diameter is followed as a
function of dilution? In diesel engine oil studies, the dilution
approach has been helpful.
The authors have listed a number of factors that must be
watched if repeatable dara are to be obtained. I would like
to add two more items. Passing the cleaning solvents through
silica gel to remove polar impurities prior to use is a musr.
Also, the ball lot and source can affect the wear values.
In Fig. Bl, 4-ball seizure loads obtained by the aurhors
using the step-loading procedure have been plotted as a
function of average cam and lifter wear based on the most
recent ASTM data (over 30 tests on all oils excepr 76A, and
75B which were based on 19 and 20 tests, respecrively).
Although there is a trend toward higher engine wear for
those oils having a lower seizure load, there is a lot of data
scatter, especially at the high wear end. I would be happier
if some intermediate wear engine oils in the 100 to 200m
x 10-6 average cam and lifter wear range had been in-
cluded. Another problem is that the high wear oils selected
were also all oils that failed the viscosity increase part of the
Sequence III-D test. As a result of oxidation causing the
s6E
220 a
o
200 a
SEIZURE LOAD - Ks
180
a
16()
140
oa
120
o 50 100 150 2()0 25o 300
AVERAGE CAM ANO LTFTER WEAR - m x iO-6
Flg. B1-Corrolation betweon llFD Soquenco wear and 4-ball solzure load
over 400 percent increase in viscosity, a substantial fraction
of the zinc dithiophosphate anriwear additive originally
present in the oil would no longer be available to help con-
trol wear (.B1). This oxidation factor is nor presenr in rhe
relatively short 4-ball wear resrs. Four-ball dara on oil 738,
a high wear reference oil that does nor fail the viscosity
increase part of the test, would be most interesting.
Although the authors have shown a limited correlation,
data on many more oils will be needed to prove that a useful
correlation does exist.
REFERENCES
(81) Willermet, P. A., Mahoney, L. R., and Haas, C. M., "The Effects of
Antioxidant Reaction on the Wear Behavior of a Zinc Dialkvldithio-
phosphate," AS LE Traru., 22, 5, pp 30 l-06 ( 1979).
AUTHORS'CLOSURE
The authors wish to thank Sidney Shen and Fred Rounds
for their thoughtful discussions. We agree with most of the
comments.
The reference oils were obtained from the ASTM test
monitoring center with the provision that we would not
analyze the oils. Since we do not know the compositions of
the oils, we are unable to respond to Mr. Rounds' statement
that three similar good and three similar bad reference oils
were used.
The six reference oils used were the only ones available
at the time the paper was written. Since then, two additional
reference oils have become available and were tested using
our procedures. Results from these tests are presented, with
the previous data for comparison purposes, in Table Cl.
Reference oil 8lA, a low wear III-D oil, performed well in
the four-ball tests and can be grouped with the other low
wear oils. Reference oil 73B, the high wear III-D reference
oil referred to by Mr. Rounds, performed poorly and can
be grouped with the other high wear oils.
The plot shown by Mr. Rounds in Fig. Bl is an attempt
to apply a linear fit to the correlation. Unfortunately, the
plot contains a mixture of low wear III-D oils that completed
the engine sequence test (64 hours) and high wear oils that
ran less than the sixty-four hours required for the test. Since
test duration is not constant, a comparison of the data using
a linear approximation of the correlation is questionable.
Septomb€r, r983 LUARICATION ENGINEERING
 Taslr CI Foun-Ball Trsr Rr,sulrs
-Suvr.renv
III-D AvrnacE CoNs-raNr CoNorrroN Wren Trsr Srrp LoaorNc Srrzunr, Trsr
REFERENCE Cau eNl Lrrrun Wran III.D Wrex. Scen DreuErrn Suzunr Loeo
OII m x 10-6 WEAR RATTNG mm kg
76A 48 Low 0.51 200
758 46 Lou' 0.51 209
79A 48 Low 0.50 218
8lA 6l Low 0.50 227

738 264 High Seizure 127

778* 287 High 0.55 168
77C* 277 High Seizure r32
72A-1* 256 High Seizure 132

*Test terminated before 64 hours

The high wear III-D reference oils have average cam and
lifter wear values of 250-300 x 10-6 meters. If these oils
had continued to run to the 64-hour endpoint, wear would
probably be higher but would certainly not be the same.
The oils, therefore, can only be separated into high and low
wear classifications and a pass-fail criterion is appropriate
for correlation purposes.
We will continue to test the correlations with new refer-
ence oils and oils with substantial engine sequence testing
as they become available.

Joumal ol the Amerlcan Soclety ol Lubrlcatlon Englneers 569

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