Micropitting resistant industrial gear oils with balanced performance

Abstract

This paper reviews the performance features of a new generation of industrial gear oils, developed for both mineral and synthetic base oils. These new products were designed to provide the highest levels of protection against the relatively new wear mechanism called micropitting. However, great stress was placed on providing these new products with balanced performance capabilities, so that they will perform with high reliability in the wide variety of conditions to which modern industrial gear oils are exposed. Performance areas such as filterability, foam control, corrosion protection, water separation, oxidation control and bearing protection were of particular concern. This paper compares the overall performance of these new technologies with conventional commercial products and it describes the extensive rig and field‐testing used to confirm their performance. It also reviews the phenomenon of gear micropitting and optimum methods for its assessment.