How Important of a Viscosity Scale?
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. It describes the internal friction of a moving fluid. A fluid having higher viscosity resists motion because its molecular form produces a lot of internal friction. Let us know about Importance of Oil Viscosity Scale.
To measure the viscosity of engine oil, there is a standard way of viscosity scale, developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The scale specified by some technical words starts from 0W to 5W, 10W and so on, where 0W indicates the thinnest oil and the higher viscosity implies the thicker oils. The letter ‘W’ on the label stands for the word “Winter” to show the viscosity level when an engine is cold.
A low viscosity oil is thinner and can flow more easily and faster and is useful when you start a cold oil. The oil needs to lubricate the equipments quickly. On the other hand when the engine is hot, you need the higher viscosity or thicker oil to keep the equipments well lubricated and separated. So, there should have a balance of viscosity.
How Viscosity Affects on Equipments?
As we understand the oil viscosity is important in solid fleet maintenance, it also affects the performance of a wide of industrial equipments. Viscosity can increase or decrease the heat generated by bearing and cylinders. It also affects on how quickly the oil is consumed and how easily equipments can be operated in extreme temperature.
Higher viscosity at warm temperature you need less oil and experience less wear and tear on equipments. However, a thinner viscosity oil can help to improve the startup of equipments as well as reduce fuel usage.
A lubricant with a higher viscosity index is more desirable because it provides a more stable lubricating film over a wider temperature.
How do You Measure Viscosity?
Being an end user, you can guess the viscosity by watching the label but in case the manufacturer needs to measure the viscosity technically. There are mainly five ways to measure viscosity
5 Ways to Measure Viscosity
- Capillary Viscometers.
- Rotational Rheometry.
- Vibrating Viscometers.
- Microfluidic Rheometers.
- Non-Contact Rheology.
Popular Grades of Viscosity
In early time, it was common for vehicle to use higher viscosity oils like 20W-50, 10W-40 and 10W-30. But in recent times the engine technology has developed and advanced, the engine size and flow ways become smaller and thinner. Due to advanced technology engine oil viscosity decreases. Now 5W-20 and 5W-30 are most popular grade and 0W-20 is the fastest growing grade. Lower viscosity helps to move through the thin pathways to protect and clean surface. Lower viscosity also results in better fuel economy.
Using of wrong viscosity, you can start experiencing damage and problems with equipments. So, you need to be careful about your oil viscosity, it is not only important to choose the right viscosity also care about regular oil changes to save equipments
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