Different lubrication methods such as oil dip or injection lubrication are used in gearboxes to lubricate tribological contacts and to dissipate frictional heat.To improve resource and energy efficiency, novel needs-based lubrication methods like the drop-on-demand lubrication are being developed.It includes an ink-jet nozzle driven by a piezo Decorations element to generate picoliter droplets injected to tribological contacts.
This study evaluates the feasibility of drop-on-demand lubrication of gears.Friction measurements in SPROUTED PROTEIN VANILLA rolling-sliding contacts indicate the formation of typical elastohydrodynamic contacts.Power loss measurements of gears show a similar behavior compared to continuous minimum quantity lubrication.
Hence, the study confirms that the operation of gears with drop-on-demand lubrication is possible.It introduces the possibility of dynamic and flexible oil supply on a contact needs-based level.