Fourball tester the new and improved falex four ball introduces a new approach to the timetested tribology concept of four ball testing. A reexamination of the fourball test the four ball test is widely used to assess the ep properties of lubricants. D 2266 test method for wear preventive characteristics of lubricating grease fourball method 2 2. According to the astm, the four ball wear test can be used to determine the relative wear preventive properties of lubricating fluids in sliding contact under the prescribed test conditions. It is manufactured with sufficient frame strength and the use of air pressure for heavy test loads ensures smooth pressure application. During a four ball wear test a rotating steel ball is pressed against three balls firmly held together and immersed in lubricant under test. The user of this test method should determine to his own satisfaction whether results of this test procedure correlate with field performance or other bench test machines. The four ball ep tester is designed for testing under more severe conditions and lacks the sensitivity necessary for the four ball wear test. This test is not intended to predict wear characteristics with other metal combinations other than steelonsteel and does not measure the extreme pressure characteristics of the industrial gear lubricant. The test balls were made of 100cr6 steel with a hardness of 2462 hrc. It occurs when two solid surfaces slide over one another under pressure. Four ball tests of greases the four ball machines are known since 1940s as the standard bench tests for evaluation of friction, wear and extreme pressure properties of greases.
The test method cannot be used to differentiate between extreme pressure ep and nonextreme. Development of a four ball wear test procedure to evaluate automotive lubricating oils article pdf available in lubrication engineering 399. Various techniques for evaluating wear performance of automotive crankcase oils were studied using four ball wear testers. The unique sample configuration of three stationary balls and one top ball makes a very stable and a repeatable contact inturn, allowing test results to be very repeatable. D417218 standard test method for wear preventive characteristics of. Test is used to measure the anti wear aw and extreme pressure ep properties of grease. Wear testing and wear measurement university of miskolc. The four ball test has limited applicability, as i mentioned, but is an excellent test of anti wear additive chemistry. Tests were run using a commercially available multispecimen wear tester configured to run the standard sliding fourball wear test. The test load, duration, temperature and rotational speed are set on the four ball tester in accordance with standard test methods. No correlation has been established between the four ball wear test and field service. The contact surfaces are covered with test lubricant, a load is applied and a timed test is performed.
There is a bracket for the rotating ball held in a ball holder at its lower end. Pdf investigation of the antiwear characteristics of. A vertically mounted test spindle is located over the cup. Four ball ep tester is designed for testing under more severe conditions and lacks the sensitivity necessary for the four ball wear test. From the original test developed by shell oil company, weve kept the best elements from our 60 years of mechanical upgrades and. After the test, the wear scar measurements are performed using for example optical profilometry and. Pdf the effect of ball hardness on fourball wear test results.
The sqfbt procedure is a variation on the conventional four ball tests described in current astm standards. Investigations aimed at determining the influence of hardness on the wear of machine parts working in mixed lubrication range were carried out using a fourball extreme pressure tester. Claim 4 cobalt protects against ep with double to triple the load wear index. Four ball tester ducom instruments the tribology company. Wear rate calculation in the fourball wear test sciencedirect. Note 2optional equipment with four ball apparatus consists of a. Pdf fourball wear test for engine oil evaluation researchgate. The effect of ball hardness on fourball wear test results. Lubricants are compared using the average size of the scar diameters worn on. The initial results indicate that there is an apparent advantage in using a 20 h fourball wear test over a 1 h wear test. Standard system, suitable for the astm and ip standard test methods for four ball ep testing high performance system with data acquisition. Development of a fourball wear test procedure to evaluate.
No attempt has been made to correlate this test with balls in rolling contact. The falex four ball wear test machine is used to determine the relative wearpreventing properties of lubricating fluids and greases in sliding and rolling applications. Standard test method for wear testing with a pinondisk. The better the lubricant is at preventing wear, the smaller the wear scar will be on the three stationary balls. The falex four ball wear test machine is used to determine the relative wear preventing properties of lubricating fluids and greases in sliding and rolling applications. Fourball tester the new and improved falex fourball introduces a new approach to the timetested tribology concept of fourball testing. Researchers at pennsylvania state university have developed a promising new test procedure called the sequential four ball test sqfbt that could prove useful to the plant oil analyst and commercial laboratory. A conventional four ball wear testing machine with different loads was used at 1500 rev. The smaller the wear scar, the better the protection. Validity of the 4ball wear test in engine lubes bob. Although not widely used as an engine oil test, the four ball wear test provides a means of comparing relative wear protection properties of lubricating oils. Standard test method for measurement of extremepressure.
Standard test method for measurement of extremepressure properties of lubricating grease fourball method1 this standard is issued under the. Fourball tester form 0891906 introducing our brand new fourball tester. A reexamination of the fourball test sciencedirect. The four ball tribometer is the most used to investigate the antiwear and extreme. Four ball tester, also known as shell four ball tester, is used to characterize lubricants p. Friction and wear research and development a business. Optional accessory kits for four ball wear testing astm d2266 and. The four ball tester is an excellent development and quality check instrument for developers and users of lubricating oils and greases. Standard test method for wear preventive characteristics of. Fourball wear test system fbw general information the fbw performs fourball testing according to astm d2783, astm d2266, astm d4172 and astm d2596 standards. The four ball wear test, the falex test, and others are used to determine the friction and load properties of an oil before it is run in engine sequence tests. To respect the established standard procedure, the test was stopped.
High frequency reciprocating test rig is used for testing lubricity of fuels as per astm d6079, cec f06a96, more. The point contact interface is obtained by rotating a 12. The four ball wear test evaluates the protection provided by engine oil under conditions of pressure and sliding motion. Uptodate tribology equipment for standard qualification. The fourball wear tester can be used under a variety of test conditions at loads up to 490 n 50 kgf. Note 1it is important to distinguish between the fourball ep tester and the fourball wear tester. From a material point of view, the test is performed to evaluate the wear property of a material so as to determine whether the material is adequate for a specific wear application. Measures wearpreventing properties of lubricants and greases in sliding and rolling applications. Four ball wear test astm d 4172 bob is the oil guy. This issue covers other methods for determining tribological characteristic of a lubricating grease, using two astm test methods, the 4 ball ep tester and 4 ball wear.
Fourball wear tester 020001003 the falex fourball wear tester determines the relative wearpreventive properties of lubricating fluids and greases in sliding and rolling applications. For the four ball wear test the load is fixed at 40 kg. The smaller the average wear scar, the better the wear protection pro vided by the lubricant. Chapter 6 wear testing measurement wear is a process of removal of material from one or both of two solid surfaces in solid state contact. The size of the scar left as a result of the test determines the amount of wear protection the lubricant provides. Four ball wear test system fbw general information the fbw performs four ball testing according to astm d2783, astm d2266, astm d4172 and astm d2596 standards. Any weight that can be removed from an aircraft translates to increased payload andor fuel savings. The fourball ep tester is designed for testing under more severe conditions and lacks the sensitivity necessary for the fourball wear test. Claim 6cobalt resists catastrophic damage with double to triple the weld load. Validity of the 4ball wear test in engine lubes bob is. Standard test method for wear preventive characteristics of lubricating fluid fourball method1 this standard is issued under the.
Friction and wear testing with the modern fourball apparatus. In the 4ball wear test, a steel ball is rotated against three lubricated stationary steel balls under a specified load, speed, temperature and time, per astm d2266. Claim 5cobalt reduces wear by up to 50% at moderate loads. Based on astm d2596, the standard test method for measurement of extreme pressure properties by the four ball method. In the last issue, we described how tribological properties of a lubricant can be measured using the srv. Four ball wear astm d4172 the four ball wear test determines the wear protection properties of a lubricant.
Standard test method for wear preventive characteristics. The four ball wear test astm d4172 utilizes the same test apparatus and setup as the four ball extreme pressure test astm d2783. Astm d4172 18 standard test method for wear preventive. The aim of this study was to assess the anti wear characteristics of palm oil methyl ester pome in elastohydrodynamic lubrication of en31 steel ball bearings. A wide variety of four ball wear testing machine options are available to you, such as abrasion tester, universal testing machine, and auto testing machine. Grease test good better best timken the american society for the testing of materials astm has established standards for the testing of lubricating greases. Wear test is carried out to predict the wear performance and to investigate the wear mechanism. A modified four ball wear test using a sequential method to obtain a runin wear and a steadystate rate of wear has also been developed for use with heavyduty hydraulic systems using a large caterpillar data base.
During the first hour of 331 ibb 60b 8bb 1bb0 \1t tin. The four ball ep test astm d2596 measures the ability of grease to prevent wear during pure sliding contact under extreme pressure caused by heavy loads. Whoever wrote that paragraph is certainly not a tribologist or oil formulator. Standard test method for wear preventive characteristics of lubricating fluid four ball method1 this standard is issued under the. Fluid fourball method wear resistance fourball wear testing machines wear. The techniques were evaluated using a set of six engine sequences iiid reference oils of known performance. Consequently the 52100 steel balls in astm d2266 were replaced with bronze and stainless steel balls. Three metal balls are clamped together and covered with the test lubricant, while a rotating fourth ball is pressed against them in sliding contact. Introduction four ball friction and wear testing originated with boerlage1 who, in 1933, published a description of and test results from an extreme pressure tester consisting of a single, heavily loaded ball spinning in a nest formed by clamping three balls in a plane. Jan 28, 2011 setting up the machine is shown in a separate video called four ball machine. It is manufactured with sufficient frame strength and the use of air pressure for heavy test.
Falex fourball extreme pressure test machine bluesphere. Pdf in this study, several procedures using the fourball wear tester have been evaluated using the astm engine reference oils. The purpose of this test is to determine the wear preventive characteristics of a lubricant. A circuit breaker interrupts the power supply once the test balls are welded together and prevent rotation. Evaluation of lubricating grease using the same machine is detailed in test method d2266. No correlation has been established between the fourball wear test and field service. Normally, the wear scars on the three lower balls are measured and averaged. Pdf development of a fourball wear test procedure to.
The four ball wear test determines the wear protection properties of a lubricant by measuring the wear scars produced by four metal balls in sliding contact under the test parameters. Investigations aimed at determining the influence of hardness on the wear of machine parts working in mixed lubrication range were carried out using a four ball extreme pressure tester. Lubricants are compared using the average size of the scar diameters worn on the three lower clamped balls. As the wear is a surface removal phenomenon and occurs mostly at outer surfaces, it is more appropriate and economical to make surface modification of existing alloys than using the wear resistant alloys. Srv, 4 ball methods and profilometer tribological testing by srv in an earlier edition of the lubeletter, the concept of tribology was discussed and its application to the properties of friction and wear. Development of a fourball wear test procedure to evaluate automotive lubricating oils article pdf available in lubrication engineering 399. Setting up the machine is shown in a separate video called four ball machine. These applications include equipment operating under severe and wide ranges of speeds, loads and temperatures. Tribological testing by 4 ball methods nye lubricants. Mov grease evaluations with a modified 4ball wear test stle.
There are standard sequence tests that oils go through for the various api ratings, but you wont find oil companies telling you their actual test scores. Four ball weld load stays in accordance to din 550 4, iso 11008, astm d2596, ip 239 for evaluation of extreme pressure properties. Imperial four ball test machines are used for testing extreme pressure, wear characteristics of lubricating oils and greases. At nye lubricants, friction and wear is measured using an srv instrument. It is the only test machine proven through cooperative. Astmd4172 standard test method for wear preventive. Pdf the effect of ball hardness on fourball wear test. A mixed lubrication model an objective function correlating the hardness of the steel.
One, a pin with a radiused tip, is positioned perpendicular to the other, usually a. Therefore our results showed that the 20 h test provided greater variation among the various oils. The full test procedure involves the measurement of wear scars on three of the test balls at 20 separate load stages in order to calculate the mean hertz load mhl. The falex fourball ep is available in two configurations. Amsoil synthetic oil comparison four ball wear test astm d. Four ball wear tester 020001003 the falex four ball wear tester determines the relative wear preventive properties of lubricating fluids and greases in sliding and rolling applications. In the 4ball wear test, a steel ball is rotated against three lubricated stationary steel balls under a specified load, speed, temperature and time, per astm d2266 grease or astm d4172 oils. Wear test procedures at different speedload combinations, load capacity tests and step loading test were examined. Amsoil synthetic oil comparison four ball wear test astm d4172. The fourball ep test measures a lubricants extreme pressure properties under. This table has taken the typical range of test results reported by the lubricant companies for each test and ranked them into a good, better, best order.
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