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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

HIGH TEMPERATURE SOLID DRY FILM LUBRICANTS. Period Covered April 1, 1957 to December 31, 1957

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4312217
Solid dry film lubricants appear to be the answer for many high temperature lubrication problems. However, the wear-life of these fllms is dependent upon a large number of factors which complicate the choice of a particular lubricant film and its proper application. This report describes three phases of work directed toward the development of high temperature solid dry film lubricants. Parametric study of wear-life factors: The fractional factorial design of experiments (total of five) is used to evaluate the effect of ten factors upon the wear-life of several solid film lubricents. The factors studied are environmental temperature, bearing load, substrate hardness, film thickness, relative linear surface speed, lubricant material, film binder, lubricantto-binder ratio, type of motion, and geometry of rub shoe. In the range of values investigated, the temperature (400 to 550 d F) and the load (10,000 to 65,000 psi) had the greatest effect upon the wear-life of the lubricant films. Although the results are limited, a procedure is developed for evaluating a lubricant (for a particular application) with a minimum number of tests. Nuclear radiation effects: Four commercial solid dry film lubricants were submitted to gamma and neutron irradiation. Three of the films were resin-bonded mixtures of graphite and molybdenum disulfide. The other film was a mixture of lead oxide and graphite bonded with a glasslike material. Only the gamma irradiated specimens have been tested. The wear-life of one lubricant film is possibly affected by gamma irradiation; the others showed no significant effect. Search for high temperature lubricants: A group of 16 inorganic materials have been selected for further investigation as possible high temperature (800'F) lubricants. This selection was made on the basis of a literature survey and the present knowledge of lubrication mechanisms. these materials are simple compounds and are mostly sulfides, oxides and chlorides of metals occurring in periods 3, 4, or 6 of the periodic table. (auth)
Research Organization:
Midwest Research Inst., Kansas City, Mo.
NSA Number:
NSA-12-013709
OSTI ID:
4312217
Report Number(s):
WADC-TR-57-455(Pt.II)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English