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One of the most important heat treating processes is steel carburizing. However, the relatively long process times makes carburizing (and related thermochemical processes) a particularly energy consumptive and expensive process. Thus, if significant reductions in process times or temperatures can be achieved, this would result in substantial product cost savings and reduced energy consumption. Various methods of accelerating the carburizing process have been reported previously including: the use of rare earth metals, optimization by computer control of endo gas composition, use of superficial nitriding and others. In this paper, an overview of a new process using a hydrocarbon decomposition reaction catalyst that results in substantial diffusion rate acceleration and/or the potential use of significantly lower carburization temperatures will be discussed.

Hydraulic piston pump failures may be related to either hardware or fluid problems. In some cases, apparent hardware failures have been traced to various fluid problems. In this paper, selected examples of pump failures will be provided to illustrate some common modes of axial piston pump failures. In most cases, these will represent actual failures including: misalignment, insufficient fluid lubrication, particle contamination, brinelling, corrosion, and cavitation. Various examples of these and other pump failure modes are provided.

For many years the ASTM D2882 test method, using the V-104C Vane pump, served the industry well to evaluate the lubricating properties of hydraulic fluids at low pressures (< 2000 psi). However, at higher pressures in different types of pumps (i.e. piston pumps), this method may not be reliable enough to predict satisfactory lubrication performance in commercial applications. In this paper the V-104C pump will be evaluated in terms of vane contact force and film thickness parameters to assertain the possibility of using a modified bench test to better predict hydraulic fluid performance at higher pressures.

This new book provides a comprehensive overview of various lubrication aspects of a typical powertrain system including the engine, transmission, driveline, chassis, and other components. The manual addresses major issues and current development status of automotive lubricant test methods. Topics also cover advanced lubrication and tribochemistry of the powertrain system, such as diesel fuel lubrication, specialized automotive lubricant testing development, filtration testing of automotive lubricants, lubrication of constant velocity joints, and biodegradable automotive lubricants.

Biodiesel is a biodegradable fuel that consists of alkyl esters, obtained from renewable sources, vegetal oil and animal fats reacting with a short-chain of aliphatic alcohols (typically methanol or ethanol) in the presence of a catalyst (reaction known as transesterification). An important property to use the biodiesel as fuel in diesel engines is its oxidation stability because biodiesel can contain unsaturated fatty acids, which are susceptible to oxidation, being able to change into polymerized compounds, which can cause engine problems such as blocked fuel filters. Numerous analytical methods have been applied to determine oxidation stability, European Union and Brazil use the same method DIN EN 14112 - known as Rancimat method that consists in the sample heating to 110°C where the products formed by the decomposition are blown inside by a flow of air in to measurement cell with distilled water.

This well-referenced handbook is comprehensive, in-depth, and provides a detailed overview of ALL of the important ASTM and non-ASTM fuels and lubricants test procedures. Readers will get a thorough overview of the application-related properties being tested and an extensive discussion of the principles behind the tests and their relationship to the properties themselves. A must-have for anyone in the industry involved in the formulation, use, and specification of fuels and lubricants. The information is subdivided into four sections: Petroleum Refining Processes for Fuels and Lubricant Basestocks Fuels Hydrocarbons and Synthetic Lubricants Performance/Property Testing Procedures

The results of the stress relieving and tempering processes of steel are dependent on the process temperature and time which are correlated using Holloman-Jaffe equation or Larsen-Miller equation. These equations yield a value known as the tempering parameter, which is a measure of the thermal effect of the process. Processes that exhibit the same tempering parameter exhibit the same effect. In this paper an overview of the development of the tempering parameter, including its origin, use and limitations will be provided. In addition, recent work describing the development of more precise numerical relationships to describe the tempering process will be provided.

Cavitation is the dynamic process of gas cavity growth and collapse in a liquid. These cavities are due to the presence of dissolved gases or volatile liquids and they are formed at the point where the pressure is less than the saturation pressure of the gas (gaseous cavitation) or vapor pressure (vaporous cavitation). In this paper, various hydraulic system design factors and fluid properties affecting the cavitation process, and bubble collapse mechanisms will be discussed. In-situ generation of cavitation, examination of the cavitation process in model hydraulic systems, material effects and test methods will be reviewed.

One of the ongoing needs in the materials industry is to facilitate significant production cost saving due to energy usage. One way to do this is to use the thermal energy generally emitted during heat treatment to facilitate additive reactions with the material surface. This has been successfully done by formulating specific lubricity additives into on a oil or aqueous quenching media. When the material is heated and subsequently quenched, the lubricity additive will then react with the surface providing substantial improvements in lubricity. This process is called: “coat forming”. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of coat forming reactions, additives, and subsequent application performance.

Currently, the industry standard pump test which is used to evaluate the lubricating performance of hydraulic fluids is ASTM D-2882 [1,2]. This test, and others, utilizes the Vickers V-104 vane pump [3]. Although ASTM D-2882 has been an industry standard for many years, it does not provide the necessary correlation required for prediction of the lubricating properties of a hydraulic fluid in various piston pump operations. The objective of this paper is to detail the recently proposed Rexroth Piston Pump Test which is being proposed as an ASTM standard. A description of the proposed hardware, pump testing strategies and methods of standardized wear determination will be provided.

There is increasing interest in the development of bench tests to characterize the performance of hydraulic fluids in order to minimize the cost of testing and the volumes of fluid currently required for pump testing. One method which permits comprehensive characterization of the boundary, mixed EHD and EHD wear regimes encountered in pump lubrication is to develop a performance map. This paper discusses the use of this testing method to characterize the performance of two experimental hydraulic fluid formulations.

Although quench factor analysis has been used by many researchers in predicting the performance of a quenchant to strengthen aluminum, it has rarely been applied to steel quenching. However, quench factor analysis posses a number of advantages over current empirical methods or more recently employed finite element thermophysical property modeling. For example, quench factor analysis can address the non-Newtonian cooling process involved with many processes utilizing vaporizable quenchants. Quench factor analysis predictions of as-quenched hardness can be successfully performed with an Excel Spreadsheet calculation. Finally, quench factors can be easily utilized in constructing databases for quenchant characterization and selection.

The ASTM test method D-2882 (Standard Test Method for Indicating the Wear Characteristics of Petroleum and Non-Petroleum Hydraulic Fluids in a Constant Volume Vane Pump) is widely used to evaluate hydraulic fluids. Performing this method can be difficult due to problems with the pump hardware and the written procedure. This paper discusses the problems and suggests possible remedies.

Although considerable research has been performed to quantitatively compare the relative fire-resistance afforded by different hydraulic fluids in various industrial applications, new standards reflecting these developments is still incomplete. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the classical tests that have, and are currently, used to quantify relative fire safety of fluids. This will be complemented by a discussion of recent test developments that could be incorporated into future standards.

There has been an ongoing interest in replacing mineral oil with more biodegradable and/or fire-resistant hydraulic fluids in many mobile equipment applications. Although many alternative fluids may be more biodegradable, or fire-resistant, or both than mineral oil, they often suffer from other limitations such as poorer wear, oxidative stability, and yellow metal corrosion which inhibit their performance in high-pressure hydraulic systems, particularly high pressure piston pump applications. From the fluid supplier's viewpoint, the development of a definitive test, or series of tests, that provides sufficient information to determine how a given fluid would perform with various hydraulic components would be of interest because it would minimize extensive testing. This is often too slow or prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, from OEM's (original equipment manufacturer's) point of view, it would be advantageous to develop a more effective, industry accepted fluid analysis screening.

Surface engineering encompasses numerous vital and diverse technologies in the design and wear of automotive and off-highway components. These technologies include CVD, PVD, ion implantation and conventional heat treatments such as carburizing, nitriding and carbonitriding. Although these technologies are well known, it is considerably more difficult to understand the relative importance of the various technology niches for these processes, and it is very difficult to find effective summaries of the impact of these technologies on comparative lubrication formulation and practice. The objectives of this paper are two-fold. One is to review the impact of surface engineered coatings on the surface chemistry of steel. The second objective is to review the impact of the surface chemistry obtained by different surface treatments on boundary film formation to reduce frictional losses during fluid lubrication.

Thickened water-glycol hydraulic fluids, which are generally suitable for use at system pressures of < 34.5 MPa have been used by the fluid power industry for over forty years. The principle reason for the use of this class of fluids is their outstanding fire safety properties. However, when higher system pressures are encountered and fire safety is required, a polyol ester or phosphate ester based fluid is usually selected. Recently, a proprietary, thickened water-glycol based fluid has been developed for use at system pressures of up to 34.5 MPa. The fire safety and performance testing results of this fluid will be described in this paper.

One of the most commonly used tests to evaluate the antiwear properties of a hydraulic fluid is ASTM D 2882 which is based on a Vicker's V-104 vane pump. Although this is a commonly used test, the results are subject to numerous potential problems in both testing procedure and pump hardware. In this paper, the particular focus will be placed on potential problems that may be encountered with testing of water-glycol hydraulic fluids which may lead to erroneous and non-reproducible results.