Investigation on the Role of Gasketing Materials in Foaming of Lubricating Oils

Foaming of lubricating oil during operation of any automotive mechanism is undesirable. To control this problem, anti-foaming additives are often part of the formulated oil. However, during use, the oil contacts the gasketing material used to seal the mechanism and may extract pro-foamants in sufficient quantity to overwhelm the anti-foamant additive.

Recognition of this problem has led to several different in-house tests of oil/gasket compatibility seemingly giving divergent information and technical direction concerning correction of foam-inducing factors of both the oil and gasket.

It seemed appropriate to investigate and quantify the relative importance of several of the presumed influences on oil/gasket interaction. To do this, a relatively simple test simulating oil/gasket contact in the operating mechanism has been developed around an air foam-bath and applied in a series of Taguchi matrix studies to determine the influential factors.