Inadequate grease lubrication is a common cause of bearing failure and mechanical breakdown, particularly in applications subject to variable or extreme operating conditions, such as wind turbines. PES spoke with Rihard Pasaribu, Team Leader Lubricants Product Application Specialist at Shell Lubricants; Piet Lugt, Senior Scientist at SKF Research and Technology Development and part-time Professor of Tribology at the University of Twente; and Jude Osara, Assistant Professor of Tribology at the University of Twente, to learn how their unique collaboration at the University Technology Centre for Grease Lubrication (UTC) is driving research to better predict the performance of grease-based lubricants.
PES: Welcome and thank you for being here today. To begin with, tell us why we’re here discussing grease.
Rihard Pasaribu: Lubricating grease is fundamental to the performance and reliability of bearings in large-scale mechanical equipment, such as wind turbines. However, until recently, it’s been difficult to predict how grease forms a lubricating film in bearings under different operating conditions. This is significant because the majority of unplanned downtime is due to issues related to grease lubrication.
Piet Lugt: At SKF, we love to lubricate our bearings with grease: it offers lower friction, wear and energy losses compared with oil-based lubricants. However, predicting grease performance, particularly under extreme and variable conditions, has been challenging as it is less researched than oil-based lubricated bearings. If we can predict the film-forming capabilities of grease lubricants, we can better predict the performance of our bearings.