Lubricant properties for input to hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic lubrication analyses

The properties of a number of common lubricants have been measured, namely the viscosity, elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) friction coefficient, density thermal conductivity and heat capacity per unit volume. These properties have been measured within relatively broad pressure and temperature ranges. The lubricants tested were naphthenic and paraffinic mineral oils, blends of these, polyalphaolefins and a polyglycol. Physical-empirical expressions have been developed upon the basis of the measurement results and a number of lubricant constants, or lubricant parameters, have been determined for each lubricant. These expressions can be used in engineering computational tools for lubrication analysis. The use of such analyses is expected to increase into the new millennium and it is thus important to provide reliable and relevant input data.