Lubricant Evaluation for Bearing Systems Operating in Spatial Environments

1 January 1963

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in A S L E Transactions

Vol. 6 (1) , 67-79
https://doi.org/10.1080/05698196308972000

Abstract

This paper presents a general summary of the results of several programs which were directed toward the selection of lubricants for rolling contact bearings operating in a spatial environment. The test procedures and results of evaporation tests on various lubricants and greases are described. In some of these tests, the effect of combined exposure to vacuum and radiation was determined. The problem of accelerating the tests in order to simulate long time exposure to spatial conditions was approached by using higher test temperatures to hasten evaporation. Several soft metal films and one plastic coating were evaluated as solid lubricants in instrument size bearings running at 3000 rpm. The results are summarized.

Keywords

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:

Friction, Wear, and Evaporation Rates of Various Materials in Vacuum to 10⁻⁷mm Hg
A S L E Transactions, 1962
Lubrication with materials in the solid state
British Journal of Applied Physics, 1951