Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manuel Oehler is full professor at the Chair of Drive Technology at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). His research focuses on experimental and simulative investigations of tribology, especially on gears and mechanical drive systems. In addition to cylindrical gears, research into worm gears is a main topic.
For worm gearboxes, oils are mainly used in combination with splash lubrication. Consistent lubricants, such as greases, are used less frequently and are used, for example, in gearboxes where it is not possible or difficult to seal the housing (Ref. 1). These applications include positioning gears, but also power gears with high sealing requirements, such as in the food industry. Grease lubrication has, in comparison to oil, a negative thermal effect on the worm, resulting in higher mass temperatures (Ref. 2). However, this effect becomes less relevant in the application of positioning gears, so that the advantages of grease lubrication outweigh the disadvantages in these applications.
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