NEW RESULTS IN HIGH-PRESSURE AND LOW-TEMPERATURE RHEOLOGY OF LIQUID LUBRICANTS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

This paper presents a rheological investigation conducted on three lub ricants used in space applications under vacuum. Lubricant behavior wa s determined for representative pressures and temperatures. Relations between standardized methods and space requirements are discussed. Fin ally, the elastohydrodynamic load-carrying capacity of the three fluid s in the Newtonian domain is computed over a wide temperature range an d compared to those of two reference base oils.