Keep your parts moving with a high-quality and effective lubricant. In industrial applications, lubricants are a vital piece of the puzzle as they perform a variety of crucial functions. Before understanding which lubricant you should purchase, you should first understand why you need to select a lubricant.
Without a lubricant, you will run into a myriad of problems that can include extreme temperatures, increased wear and tear, poor performance quality, and even total machine failure. These seven functions of common lubricants will lay out what they do and why they are so critical to machine operations.
Arguably the most well-known feature of industrial lubricants is that they reduce friction and wear. To do this, the lubricant creates a thin film between the two surfaces that are rubbing together. This barrier reduces the direct contact of the two surfaces and can prevent rubbing entirely. While there are many lubricants you can choose from, tailoring your selection to your industry and purposes is the best path to reducing friction and wear in your machining operations. Industrial lubricants can be categorized into the following groups:
It would be impossible to satisfy the following functions in this list without first preventing and reducing friction, wear, and tear.
In addition to their work cutting down on friction, industrial lubricants can act as a cleaning agent in machinery. Lubricants, specifically oils, will move through the machine and its parts, picking up contaminants including debris like dirt, dust, soot, and lint.
The lubricant will help maintain the internal cleanliness of your production by suspending contaminants or keeping contaminants from adhering to components.
When the industrial lubricant does its job by reducing friction, it will in turn reduce the amount of heat that is generated. Because friction causes heat, that heat will then dissipate, therefore lowering the operating temperature of the element of component that is running. The lubricant also absorbs heat from the contact surface area and transport it to a location in which it can be safely dissipated.
When manufacturing equipment overheats, the system can become unstable and unreliable. This can turn into significant problems including part damage and, in more severe cases, even fire.
One unique function of industrial lubricants is that they prevent contamination in your operations by acting as a seal in locations including the piston, piston ring, and cylinder contact areas.
Contamination can come from touching other objects or containers through transportation, overexposure, lubricant changeover, or human error. This can quickly become a problem as it can result in irreversible damage to your equipment, leading to an expensive and time-consuming recovery.
When acting as a seal, lubricants minimize combustion byproducts from contaminating the lubrication system. The lubricants are often relied on to support mechanical seals found elsewhere, minimizing external contamination and fluid loss.
Mechanical shock occurs when your equipment is affected by sudden drops, collisions, or disruptions. During this, you may notice an intense and unexpected increase in acceleration, a short transfer of transient mechanical energy, or the physical movement of parts.
A lubricant may be required to cushion the blow of mechanical shock. A lubricant film can absorb and disperse these energy spikes over a broader contact area.
Rust and corrosion can be a costly expense for machine operations. In order to avoid this, your lubricant must have the ability to prevent or minimize internal component corrosion. This can be accomplished either by chemically neutralizing the corrosive products or by physically setting up a barrier between the components and the corrosive material. Synthetic lubricants are often the most successful at reducing or preventing corrosion due to their high resistance to the chemical reactions that lead to corrosion.
Industrial lubricants may be required to act as an energy transfer median as in the case of hydraulic equipment or valve lifters in an automotive engine.
With hydraulic systems, a hydraulic pump will apply pressure to the fluid that is almost incompressible. When it is transmitted, this pressurized fluid will flow through the system to lift heavy loads, operate machinery, and other mechanical task. This converts mechanical energy from the pump into fluid energy and then back into mechanical energy.
In the automotive industry, lubricants like engine oil acts as a transmission for hydraulic valve lifters. This in turn eliminates valve clearance.
Lubricants are especially important in the machinery process because their numerous properties and function fix issues you may run into and solves problems before they happen. Understanding what your lubricant does is how will help you choose the right one for your operations.
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