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Lubricant formulations and lubricant additives have been slanted heavily toward protecting gear concentrated contacts from galling and wear. Much of the performance differentiation of these lubricants has been dependent on highly accelerated standardized laboratory testing. The area of contact fatigue has played a less important role in shaping lubricant formulations, but new test results for several commercially available gear lubricants suggest this area warrants a closer examintion. The implications of these findings for equipment applications are discussed, and suggestions are made for ways to minimize or avoid potential detrimental performance effects.

Debris resistant bearings are being promoted by various bearing manufacturers as a solution for many contaminated lubrication environments. The baseline for such claims is often unclear for the bearing user and leaves questions as to how the information relates to specific field applications. In order to determine the benefits, if any, of these new product offerings and to assess their effectiveness, a standard method of evaluation is needed. An approach to satisfying this need is described and typical results are provided for several commercially available bearing products.