11 Lubricating grease

G.GOW

11.1 Introduction

Lubricating grease has been regarded by many prominent members of the

oil industry, including the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI),
as more of an art than a science. One of the primary objectives of a new
generation of lubrication engineers is to radically change this concept and
start speaking the same language as other scientists. Grease lubrication is a
complex mixture of chemistry, physics, tribology, rheology and health and
environmental sciences. Without extensive interdisciplinary co-operation
and understanding, any ambitious research and development project will
eventually meet immovable obstacles.
Lubricating grease is a vital part of a great number of machine compo-
nents. However, this is often forgotten (or ignored) by product designers.
Lubrication specialists are called into design projects at the very last
minute and this can result in serious problems which could perhaps have
been avoided if the lubricant had been considered as an integral part of
the total construction from the start.
Economically speaking, lubricating grease is regarded as a commodity
and, as such, it is often a low price product. This means that the
potential manufacturing profit is limited by the cost of the resources
(both capital and manpower) required to develop and produce the grease.
Basic research into the fundamentals of grease lubrication is somewhat
scarce in the academic community, presumably due to lack of funding.
Most research takes place under the auspices of the oil companies and
their laboratory personnel are, by tradition, predominantly chemists.
Whilst grease manufacturing is indisputably based on chemistry, the study
of grease in practical situations, in which grease acts as a mechanical
barrier between two moving surfaces serving to keep them apart, leads
invariably into the realm of physics. Looking for chemical answers to
physical problems can only lead to questionable conclusions and compro-
mises.
Fifteen years ago, in trying to visualise the grease industry of the 1990s,
Sorli (1980) expressed concern that 'as our industry rationalises and

R. M. Mortier et al. (eds.), Chemistry and Technology of Lubricants

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1997
 LUBRICATING GREASE 307
attempts to find the appropriate balance between the specialist grease
manufacturers and the large integrated oil companies, the future research
and development required for our long term success (could) simply fall
between the cracks and we may become increasingly reliant on outmoded
processes and recipes'. Some of his concerns were justified in that many
grease manufacturers still use formulations and techniques originating
from the 1940s. However, some of the most interesting developments in
grease technology have occurred in the last ten years.
Lubricating grease is not a new product; evidence from archaeological
findings in the Middle East suggests that the art of making grease was
known at least 4000 years ago. However, the current generation of lubri-
cating greases have no more than 40 to 50 years of history behind them.
Earle's patents on lithium greases were issued as late as 1942-43 but
today well over 60% of lubricating greases produced in Europe are based
on lithium technology. However, there is still a long way to go in lubri-
cating grease technology (Jenks, 1985). A comprehensive study of all
aspects of grease technology with the corresponding literature references
is beyond the scope of this short presentation. There are numerous
textbooks available on this subject (Boner, 1954; Boner, 1976; Klemgard,
1937; Klamann, 1974; Dorinson and Ludema, 1985; Lansdown, 1982;
Vinogradov, 1989; Erlich, 1984) and, since the basics of lubrication will
be dealt with elsewhere in this book, this chapter will focus on illustrating
the difference between a grease and an oil and the advantages a grease can
offer as opposed to a fluid lubricant.
According to its classical definition (ASTM, 1961), lubricating grease is
'a solid to semifluid product of a thickening agent in a liquid lubricant.
Other ingredients imparting special properties may be included'. This
definition is somewhat diffuse but it does establish one very important
fact regarding composition and properties: grease is not a thick (viscous)
oil, it is a thickened oil, a multi-phase system consisting of at least two
well defined components, a thickener (gelling agent) and a fluid
lubricant. A more rheologically based definition is offered by Sinitsin
(1974), 'a lubricant which under certain loads and within its range of
temperature application, exhibits the properties of a solid body,
undergoes plastic strain and starts to flow like a fluid should the load
reach the critical point, and regains solid-body properties after the
removal of the stress'. This establishes another very important point:
grease is both solid and liquid, depending on the physical conditions of
temperature, stress, etc., and features an additional property compared
to a pure liquid lubricant, a yield value (0"0), the threshold level of shear
stress or strain. However, modern lubricating greases are so varied in
both characteristics and contents that the only absolutely accurate defini-
tion is, with apologies to Cheng (1989), 'lubricating grease is what grease
manufacturers make'.