Would be super easy to do with a mass spectrometer… super easy
That is exactly what you get in a VOA or UOA from people like Blackstone. A VOA gives you the starting conditions for any specific oil and the UOA lets you evaluate how well it is holding up in service and what an appropriate OCI for the application is.
But lubricating oil is not specified or tested by formulary. Lubricating oil is specified and tested for conformance by physical performance metrics. The specific chemistry used to get a specific performance can and does vary all over the map. You might get a rough idea of how an oil will perform based on the formulary but until you run it through the performance tests you don't actually know.
The table below is the most exhaustive list of performance requirements I have been able to find for SUDT.
For the most part those are industry standard tests applicable to any lubricating oil. The metrics and the motivation underlying them is discussed in Kubotas development report.
An agricultural tractor is a machine that performs many operations, such as land preparation, cultivation, towing and PTO operation, to name a few. In Japan it must operate in a wide variety of agricultural applications, such as paddy farming, upland farming, fruit farming and dairy farming, and in
www.sae.org
You really need to read that SAE copyright protected document to understand what they were looking for from the new formulation. I am a researcher by trade and I always want the best data possible so I purchased a copy. That blurb GreensvilleJay didn't like is their public summary and I posted it here along with a lot of other stuff I don't exactly recall. So since this thread has arisen from the dead I have also attached another laundered version of the original document that I personally authored. I doubt the SAE would even notice let alone come after me if I posted the actual 30 year old paper but better to play nice. Finally here is the Cliff Notes version for the PDF challenged:
Kubota set out to improve UDT in three specific aspects:
- They wanted to improve low temperature flow and pumpability. That is refelected in the viscosity data I have provided. They had their own in house hydraulic pumping test which is simple and easily duplicated. They pumped really cold oil through a filter and measured the length of time it took for the oil to warm and attain a minimum flow rate. This is all about viscosity which was a challenge in 1998 but not today. Even today standard formulations of UTTO cannot pass this test.
- They wanted to improve water tolerance. The oil had to be able to absorb 1% by volume water without the formation of sludge, emulsions, or additive dropout - all things that will poison an HST transmission. The test for that was a simple bench test where a measured volume of water and the oil sample were combined in a beaker, agitated, and allowed to rest. It was then filtered and any residue collected was weighed to determine pass/fail. There were some other very standard and unexceptional tests for rust and corrosion prevention that are in line with what you would get from any quality UTTO but again standard formulations cannot pass the filtration test.
- They wanted to improve wet brake and clutch performance. A slightly modified SAE #2 friction test stand is used to measure the frictional stability of the wet brake and clutch linings across repeated controlled applications. The % loss in friction coefficient is the pass/fail criteria. If it passes that phase the final test is to actually put the oil in a tractor and operate it looking for any noticeable squawk or chatter. Final pass/fail is a subjective judgement by the test operator.
Number 3 is not particularly interesting. You will know right away if the wet brakes/clutches in your tractor squawk. chatter, or fade under use. All UTTOs make very expansive claims about their performance in this regard,
Numbers 1 and 2 however are challenging requirements - SUDT has exceptional viscosity properties and tolerance for water. So much so that with only a few exceptions other UTTOs cannot pass those two tests. Case and Deere have essentially equivalent oils and at similar price points, You won't find anything a NAPA or Orschlins that can match any of those three oils.
Thats all the magic there is in that SUDT pail.
Dan
