New Results in High Pressure and Low Temperature Rheology of Liquid Lubricants for Space Applications

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