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Since construction machinery manufacturers recommend various brands and types of greases for their machinery, customers would benefit from a standardized grease which can be used in all construction machinery. Furthermore, construction machinery manufacturers have many experiences of field problems caused by commercially available and commonly used EP Lithium greases. Therefore, the Fuels and Lubricants Committee of Japan Construction Mechanization Association (JCMA) has developed a new grease specification called “Japan Construction Mechanization Association Specification (JCMAS) GK,” for construction equipment. The JCMAS GK includes requirements for National Lubrication and Grease Institute (NLGI) No. 1 and No. 2 consistency grades. The JCMAS GK greases have enough lubricating properties for periodical grease fitting of most construction machines, hydraulic excavators, bulldozers and wheel loaders. The JCMAS GK greases are applicable from -20 to +130 degrees Celsius.

Hydraulic fluid (HF) specifications for mobile construction equipment called JCMAS HK and HKB have been established by the Fuels and Lubricants Committee of Japan Construction Mechanization Association (JCMA). The specifications are designated by two viscosity categories of single grade and multigrade. Each category has ISO viscosity grade (VG) 32 and 46. The JCMAS HK oils are recommended for use in hydraulic systems designed at pressure up to 34.3MPa(5000psi) and to heat hydraulic fluid up to 100 °C. These oils also provide wear control, friction performance, oxidation and rust protection, seal swell control and filterability performance. Two piston pump test procedures were developed to evaluate lubricating performance of these oils under high pressure conditions. The JACMAS HKB oils are classified as environmentally friendly oils due to the additional requirement for biodegradability.

Transmission manufactures have been required of performance improvement and miniaturization for the AT (automatic transmission) or CVT (continuously variable transmission) unit from car manufactures. Current unit is composed of Aluminum piston, O-ring (or D-ring) and drift ball. We changed design from O-ring to lip type seal and aluminum piston to high strength steel plate piston in order to miniaturize. On the other hand, we changed drift ball to canceler in order to make faster response. At this time, we selected new lip design and developed high tensile strength ACM to keep as same oil pressure resistance and durability as current O-ring. In addition, we could have lower friction with new design of lip shape.

NBR (acrylonitrile butadiene rubber) has been used for the oil seal equipped on a power steering. However, lack of heat resistance was occasionally observed for NBR, with the recent trend of customer's demand for increasing the life of oil seals in high temperature environmental condition. We developed an oil seal with H-NBR material, which could exhibit the superior performance in the heat resistance; however, it had a weak point in low temperature environment. We have developed HNBR1, the new H-NBR, which has been improved in the performance for low temperature [1]. HNBR1 has been applied for power steering seals as the rubber material, which has superior heat resistance, cold resistance and oil resistance.

This paper introduces a new simulation test method by using IR analysis which is capable of evaluating the rate of deterioration of VMQ (Silicone) rubber material applied in engine crankshaft seal applications. IR analysis is used to measure the rate of change of the Si-C/Si-0 ratio which indicates the level of deterioration of VMQ material from the hydrolysis of the siloxane bond. Applying the new analysis method, laboratory test conditions could be improved to more closely simulate field conditions.

Recently, there has been a strong demand for increasing seal life, however, the combination of increasing underlip temperatures and more aggressive additive packages in oils have brought about a deterioration problem of fluoroelastomer seals. In this paper first, the limitations of existing seal designs are analyzed followed by discussion of the development of a new seal consisting of a dual material lip design utilizing both rubber and PTFE material to function in unison to seal oil. The new design shows potential to compensate for current seal weaknesses and as a result it outperforms existing designs.