Open Gear Grease
Heavily loaded and severe-service industrial open gear sets require grease that stays in place throughout extended regreasing intervals to protect against fretting wear, micropitting and corrosion. However, most greases struggle to maintain integrity under heavy loads and are easily scraped off the gear tooth contact zones during the meshing action. Without frequent reapplication, gears become exposed to accelerated corrosion and wear.
For example, wind turbine pitch and yaw gears are exposed to extreme environmental conditions and heavy shock-loading that can lead to expensive maintenance issues, including corrosion, micropitting and fretting wear. Extreme operating environments also subject open gears and the protective lubricants to large temperature fluctuations, particle contamination and condensation. These combined effects can cause rapid breakdown of lubricant effectiveness that leads to corrosion, abrasive micropitting and fretting wear on gear surfaces.
Routine maintenance of open gear components and lubrication systems is often challenging and time-consuming, requiring specialized knowledge and equipment due to their design and implementation. Increasing service intervals to address inadequate lubrication increases maintenance costs, but deferred maintenance can lead to catastrophic failures.
Superior Extreme-Pressure Gear Protection
Extending service intervals and reducing the costs of maintenance and downtime in harsh environments and extreme temperatures can be difficult. A high-quality grease that is designed to stay in place and maintain consistent distribution across gear teeth can help overcome the challenges of severe-service applications.
AMSOIL Industrial Open Gear Grease features extended polymer chains that create thick filaments of grease, which are pulled across gear tooth flanks from the root of each gear, redistributing grease onto the contact zone during each gear-meshing action. It is engineered to resist water washout and provide superior extreme-pressure anti-wear protection against fretting from cyclical loads and vibrations, heavy shock-loading and ratcheting backlash. It is compatible with and can be applied on top of most preexisting open gear greases.
In pneumatic lab testing, a controlled, heavy-impact force and load was applied to three NLGI #2 greases using a ram and anvil. AMSOIL Industrial Open Gear Grease exhibited less separation and splaying, indicating better extreme-pressure performance.
To minimize downtime and reduce operations and maintenance costs, be sure to follow proper open gear grease application procedures and adhere to a routine maintenance schedule. Consult an AMSOIL Industrial Application Engineer to discuss operational improvement recommendations for your specific applications.