Abstract
Over the past several years only incremental improvements have been made in the development of new and improved lubricants. Recently however, scientists at NADC (Warminster) have suceeded in demonstrating that deuteration of hydrocarbon greases has resulted in a 5-fold improvement in bearing life. Since oxidation is expected to play an important role in the degradation of lubricants, it is not suprising to find that the deuterated material was many times more resistant to oxidation than the normal hydrogen analogues. Moreover, the 5-fold improvement in bearing life for the 97% deuterated grease is entirely within the range expected for the well known isotope effect in classical chemical kinetics. Fifty-fifty mixtures of 97% deuterated fluid with the original hydrocarbon oil were significantly less stable to oxidation than were 50% radomly deuterated materials, suggesting that protecting selected chemical sites may be important in improving lubricant oxidation resistance. (A)
Original language | English |
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Journal | [No source information available] |
State | Published - 1 Jan 1979 |