Accelerated aging characteristics of lubricating greases used for separable insulated connector applications

An accelerated aging program was devised for evaluating the performance characteristics of various lubricating greases designed for use with separable insulated connectors. In addition, a series of experimental grease formulations containing multi-functional silicone and perfluoropolyether base oil fluids with various types of gelling agents, antioxidants and stabilizers were examined. Grease properties were evaluated at regular intervals after being thermally aged at 121/spl deg/C for up to 20 weeks. Disassembly forces of 25 kV class separable loadbreak elbow connectors were measured and the interfaces were photographed to visually document physical changes occurring to the grease. Significant performance differences between grease formulations supplied by different manufacturers were observed. Also, select synthetic perfluoropolyether base oil formulations were found to outperform the traditionally used silicone base oil formulations. The physical property best correlatable to performance was found to be the rate of base oil polymerization.