Introduction to Lubricants

The substance used between contact surfaces of moving parts to reduce friction and to dissipate heat is termed as lubricant. A lubricant may be oil, grease, graphite, or any substance—gas, liquid, semisolid, or solid—that permits free action of mechanical devices and prevents damage by abrasion and “seizing” of metal or other components through unequal expansion caused by heat. In machining processes (e.g. UNICORN automotive lubs) lubricants may also function as coolants to forestall heat-caused deformities.

Types of Lubricants

UNICORN brand Lubricants can be classified into four main types:

v      Automotive Lubricants

v      Marine Lubricants

v      Industrial Lubricants and

v      Specialty Products

In today’s world, most lubricants are derived from mineral oils, such as petroleum and shale oil, which can be distilled and condensed without decomposition. Synthetic lubricants, like UNICORN Ultrasynt Brand lubricants are of great value in automotive applications involving extreme temperatures. In certain types of high-speed machinery films of gas under pressure have been successfully used as lubricants.

Application of UNICORN Brand Lubricants

For the increasingly varied modern industrial requirements, UNICORN offers a wide range of selection for lubricants, differing widely in viscosity, specific gravity, vapor pressure, boiling point, and other properties. UNICORN brand lubricants efficiently replace dry friction with either thin-film or fluid-film friction, depending on the load, speed, or intermittent action of the moving parts. Thin-film lubrication, in which there is some contact between the moving parts, usually is specified where heavy loads are a factor. In the case of our fluid or thick-film lubrication, a pressure film is formed between moving surfaces and keeps them completely apart. But this type of lubrication cannot easily be maintained in high-speed machinery and therefore is recommended for use where reciprocating or oscillating conditions are moderate.

Application method is highly significant for efficient operation of machinery. For most machinery, different methods of lubrication and types of lubricants must be employed for different parts. For example, in an automobile the chassis is lubricated with grease, the manual transmission and rear-axle housings are filled with heavy oil, the automatic transmission is lubricated with a special-grade light oil, wheel bearings are packed with a grease that has a thickener composed of long fibers, and the crankcase oil that lubricates engine parts is a lightweight, free-flowing oil.

Grease lubricants are semisolid and have several important advantages: They resist being squeezed out, they are useful under heavy load conditions and in inaccessible parts where the supply of lubricant cannot easily be renewed, and they tend to form a crust that prevents the entry of dirt or grit between contact surfaces. It may be applied in various ways: by packing enclosed parts with it, by pressing it onto moving parts from an adjacent well, by forcing it through grease cups by a spring device, and by pumping it through pressure guns. Solid lubricants are especially useful at high and low temperatures, in high vacuums, and in other applications where oil is not suitable; common solid lubricants are graphite and molybdenum disulfide.