An innovative approach to substantially improve service life and performance of grease-packed hanger bearings on advanced rotorcraft is to re-engineer the grease chemistry. The current MIL-PRF-81322G aerospace grease is based on typical synthetic hydrocarbon oil. A novel ionic liquid oil was used to develop a new-technology grease. The new grease provides 50 percent lower friction, five times better wear protection, 100°C-higher use temperature, 30-percent better heat transfer efficiency, and much better load-carrying ability than current greases based on conventional oils. These improvements in friction reduction, wear reduction, and heat transfer performance are unprecedented. The new ionic grease is very fault-tolerant to wear, debris, misalignment, excess heat exposure, heat generation, and grease degradation. Performance is dramatically improved. The much-lower frictional heating permits higher operational speeds. The new grease has excellent rust and corrosion prevention, resistance to water washout, and compatibility with current greases as well as bearing and aircraft materials.
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