Comparative study of general purpose synthetic aviation lubricants in regard to wear performance, corrosion prevention and salt water resistance

MIL-PRF-81322 has been used for many years as a wide-temperature (−54 to 177 °C) aviation lubricant. Recently, MIL-PRF-32014 has shown improvement with enhanced wear and corrosion resistance. Various military aircraft component testing will be discussed, both bench and field. A lubricant comparison will be presented, focusing on wear and corrosion testing. As an additional (and novel) test approach, ASTM D1264, known as water washout, was modified to include synthetic sea water. While there are various lubricant bearing tests for corrosion, none measures a lubricant's resistance to sea water. It is expected to combine corrosion and washout measurements in this test. For many military applications, this property may be helpful in determining the life of the component, as the ability of the grease to remain in place will insure sufficient lubrication as well as corrosion protection. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.