Wear testing and specification of hydraulic fluid in industrial applications

The aim of this paper was to investigate the possibilities to use a model test to simulate the wear between cylinder bore and piston in a radial piston hydraulic motor. The tests were performed in a reciprocating test rig where the contact geometry is of the cylinder–plate type. The influence of different types of commercially available hydraulic fluids on wear protection and friction was studied. From the study, it was concluded that the use of water glycols can cause increased wear in hydraulic motors operating in low speed applications. It was also seen that the FZG test alone appears not to be enough as a hydraulic fluid wear test, at least not in the tribological conditions present in the performed wear test.