scope:

Today's industrial gearboxes are facing the expectation of increased power throughput, heavier loading, higher temperatures, and longer periods of continuous operation. This scenario is prevalent throughout all major industrial sectors, including mining, manufacturing, and power generation. This demand for higher output has serious economic consequences: greater energy losses and premature equipment failures which directly translate to the loss of time and revenue.

Greater energy efficiency and longer equipment life can be achieved by two major routes: better equipment design and improved lubricants. Our investigation focused upon the lubrication route. Fluid evaluations were conducted using two production gearboxes, instrumented in an efficiency test rig designed and built in our laboratory. A helical gearbox was initially chosen because of the prevalence of this type of gearbox in industrial applications, but due to the high mechanical efficiency of helical gears, differentiation between lubricants was minimal. A worm gearbox was used in the second iteration of the test in an effort to reduce mechanical efficiency and maximize differentiation. Testing was conducted under a wide range of speeds and loading, and pronounced differentiation among fluids was observed for their impact on power loss and operating temperature.