MechChem Africa January-February 2024

⎪ Maintenance and asset management ⎪

oil and lead, the first historical record of a compound lubricant. And when the Olympic Games were held in Olympia in Greece in 680 BCE, four-horse chariot racing was added to the event, with a requirement for high-speed wheel-axle lubrication in the form of animal fat, the first historical record of a racing lubricant. The pax Romana era: up to 200 CE 879 years later and during the Roman Empire – also known as Pax Romana (Roman peace) – we find a multitude of olive oil-based lubricants in everyday use. Experimentation led to the use of more so phisticated lubricants, including those from olive oil and other vegetable derivatives. The Romans discovered that some of these more viscous liquids not only dissipated heat better than tallow, but also allowed mechanisms to move more freely. Writings by the Roman senator and historian, Cato the Elder recommended that wagon axles be lubricated with the boiled, viscous by products of olive oil production. Greases made from calcium salts and olive oil (basically calcium grease) were used to lubricate axles in horse-drawn chariots used for travel and warfare, and different oils were used in various metalworking process es to lubricate moving parts in water clocks and to keep door hinges from squeaking in temples. It was even rumoured that Caligula, the 3 rd Roman emperor, had his engineers make up a concoction of beeswax and olive oil to lubricate the bronze bearings on the rotating platform of his palatial pleasure barge on Lake Nemi. These early experimentations marked the dawn of machinery lubrication. The medieval period: 475 CE to 1400 CE Between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance, this period was characterised by economic, intellectual, and cultural stagnation with feudalism, Viking raids and the bubonic plague thrown in. During this dark time, tallow was used predominantly as a lubricant in Northern Europe to lubricate mechanisms such as pivots and bearings. Tallow was often thick ened with agents like clay or lime to form greases that were used to lubricate vertical watermills and post mills, for opening the gates of castles and on carriage wheel axles. During the late 7 th century, warfare took a nasty turn with the invention of a devastat ing incendiary weapon called Greek fire – the medieval equivalent of napalm – which was invented by Callinicus of Heliopolis during the reign of Byzantine Emperor, Constantine IV. The recipe was a closely

that could treat anything from rheumatism to toothache.

guarded secret, but many historians believe it was composed of liquid petroleum, bitu men, and quicklime. Viking warriors were considered the quintessential shipwrights of the 8 th century and built longships called Drakkars – a term derived from the Old Norse words ‘dreki’ and ‘kar’ meaning ‘dragon ship’. These ancient mariners are believed to have used whale oil to lubricate the sail-hinge supports, rowlocks and the rudder axes. This incredible period in human history was full of cultural, artistic and intellectual development with origins in Bel Paese: oth erwise known as Italy. Some of the greatest revolutionary minds developed inventions and mechanical tools such as the printing press, microscope, and the barometer, to name but a few and the period was blessed with an ensemble of overachievers: Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, Dante, Andreas Vesalius, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Animal fats and primitive oily compounds were in use throughout the world at the time, but the father of invention, Leonardo da Vinci, made significant observations about friction and lubrication. He was the first to suggest that the friction force is proportional to the applied load or weight acting between the surfaces being moved. He also developed the concept of reducing friction by using a layer of lubricant between moving surfaces. He went on to create a self-oiling lubrication system for wheel axles, using bearings that he lubricated with animal fat and opium oil. Da Vinci’s mechanical inventions and designs laid the groundwork for many ad vancements in mechanical engineering and lubrication techniques that followed in the centuries to come. “The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding,” he said. As iron and brass replaced wooden machine parts in the 1600s, animal fat fell short of our lubrication requirements. As a result, people in Europe began experimenting with mixtures of vegetable oil, including castor, peanut, rapeseed, and canola oil. Whale oil, however, saw continued use throughout this century, not only as a lubricant, but also as a fuel in lamps and for manufacturing of candles.Meanwhile in the new world, we find Seneca Indians in North America using crude oil to waterproof baskets and wigwams, as a glue to make arrowheads, but mainly for medicinal purposes to cure a va riety of ills. Seneca Oil, as it became known, was traded by the Senaca tribe to European settlers as a tonic, insect repellent and salve The Renaissance: 1400 to 1600 CE

The Age of Enlightenment/Reason The Age of Enlightenment was an intellec tual and philosophical movement between the late 17 th century and the 18 th century that emphasised reason, individualism and the pursuit of knowledge and human rights. It played a crucial role in shaping modern thought, including political and scientific developments. Notable progress included René Descartes’s first principle of ‘I think therefore I am,’ and the inventions of the steam engine, telegraph, lightning rod, the mechanical calculator, and the hot air balloon. Sir Isaac Newton was an intellectu al giant of this time. His most famous work, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, was published in 1687 and in it he outlined his laws of motion and uni versal gravitation, providing a mathematical structure for understanding the physical world. He also formulated the mathemati cal framework for understanding viscosity and its relationship to the flow of fluids. While he did not provide a comprehensive theory of viscosity or use the term itself, his contributions to the mathematical descrip tion of fluid motion and forces within fluids were foundational for later developments in fluid mechanics and our understanding of viscosity in the modern sense. In the late 16 th century, a self-taught French physicist and engineer called Guillaume Amontons presented a paper to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, entitled De la résistance causée dans les machines – On the Resistance Encountered in Machines. Expanding on the earlier works of Leonardo da Vinci, Amontons’ paper explored the frictional forces that occur when surfaces come into contact with each other. This groundbreaking research laid the foundation for the study of friction and the laws governing it, namely Amontons’ first and second laws of friction. • The friction force is independent of the nominal or apparent area of the surfaces in sliding contact. • The friction force F is proportional to the normal force N between two bod ies in sliding contact, ie, F= µN.

The next instalment of this Sliding Through Time se ries will be published in Technical Bulletin 89, where we will brave the age of revolution and the events that spawned the modern petroleum industry. www.wearcheck.co.za

Scan the QR code to access full version of this article in Wearcheck’s Technical Bulletin 88.

January-February 2024 • MechChem Africa ¦ 9