NSK Develops Rapid Grease Degradation Diagnosis Technology; Developing App

Release Time：03 Nov,2023

<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20231103/1699020088916361.png" title="1699020088916361.png" alt="1.png"/></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NSK developed world&#39;s first high-accuracy onsite method to rapidly diagnosis the remaining life of lubricant grease; to be provided as a mobile app</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Contributes to industry trend of switching to condition-based maintenance (from conventional time-based maintenance)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Relieves customer pain points related to redundant costs in grease inspection and replenishment</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NSK is developing a mobile app applying its newly developed method to rapidly diagnose the remaining life of lubricant grease. The app will enable rapid, high-accuracy onsite analysis of grease condition.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NSK is seeking customer input and feedback on the system to accurately reflect customer needs in the app and aiming to officially launch the service in fiscal 2025. This service will contribute to reduced grease inspection and grease replenishment costs and the implementation of condition-based maintenance.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NSK will exhibit this technology at IPF Japan 2023, an international plastics exhibition to be held at Makuhari Messe from November 28 to December 2, 2023.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Background</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(1) Trends in Maintenance Strategy</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A wide range of machinery and equipment, such as machine tools and railcars, incorporate grease-lubricated products such as bearings and linear motion products (e.g. ball screws and linear guides). Grease degrades over time as machinery operates, so onsite grease inspection (diagnosis of grease condition and grease replenishment) is essential for stable operation.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In recent years, companies have begun shifting their equipment maintenance strategy from time-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance. Accordingly, there is a need for a grease degradation diagnosis method that can be rapidly performed onsite with high accuracy. These optimized, more efficient operations are also necessary to combat labor shortages and to support carbon neutrality efforts.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(2) Current Grease Degradation Diagnosis Methods</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Current high-accuracy diagnosis methods require laboratory analysis, which is not widely used due to high cost, inability to be used onsite, and the long time it takes to obtain measurement results. As a result, visual observation or densitometer methods are commonly used, but these methods suffer from low accuracy.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(3) Customer Pain Points (Redundant Labor Costs and Excessive Grease Replenishment)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Currently, since there is no highly accurate diagnosis method, grease inspection and replenishment are generally conducted more frequently than necessary. Customers have voiced the need for reducing such redundant labor and grease replenishment costs.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Although grease replenishment should be performed based on the results of high-precision diagnosis, grease is often replenished early to ensure stable operation, resulting in wasteful grease usage.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(4) NSK Expertise in Grease Technology</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NSK has a history of more than 40 years of in-house grease development and has developed this new technology to diagnose remaining grease life based on a deep understanding of the chemical makeup of greases. Moving forward, NSK is seeking customer input and feedback to accurately reflect customer needs in the ongoing development of the app.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Features</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(1) Mobile App for Rapid Onsite Diagnosis of Remaining Grease Life</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Can analyze grease condition (degradation level) with just a small sample of grease.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(2) Mechanism Underlying Grease Degradation Diagnosis Technology</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Grease is composed of base oil, thickener, and additives. The base oil and additives undergo chemical changes due to heat from operation and oxidation with the passage of time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">These chemical changes cause the grease&#39;s molecular structure to change (conjugation) and absorb more short-wavelength light (blue).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Grease itself starts off white when new, and as the equipment operates it turns yellow or orange, which are complementary colors of blue. The grease continues to change color with operation, eventually becoming black, which indicates zero remaining life.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In the app, grease color is quantified, and remaining life is calculated by analyzing which stage it is in this color change process.</span></p><p><br/></p>