Rotary dampers use silicone oil to generate viscous resistance. Anyway, there are various types of oil involved in manufacturing. We introduce silicone oil suitable for rotary dampers while comparing the characteristics of other types of oil.
Contents
Characteristics of mineral oil and grease
Mineral oil
Grease
First, let us introduce mineral oil and grease. Mineral oil is an oil obtained from petroleum, which belongs to minerals, and is used in cosmetics and as engine oil. It is generally used and the cost is low, however, it is not suitable for rotary dampers because it is thin and hard to generate viscous resistance.
On the other hand, grease is a semi-solid or solid lubricant made by distributing a thickener in lubricating oil, and is harder than mineral oil. It is used when the oil is to be retained in the area to be lubricated and it is to be run little by little. But it is also unsuitable for rotary dampers because of its low shear resistance.
Silicone oil is suitable for rotary dampers
Silicone oil
Next, let us explain silicone oil. Silicone oil is an odorless and tasteless liquid and is highly versatile of all silicone products. For the following reasons, TOK rotary dampers contain silicone oil. For your information, silicone oil is used in a variety of other applications, such as aircraft, automobiles, cosmetics, and machinery.
Characteristics of silicone oil
Silicone oil has many characteristics that make it suitable for rotary dampers. Silicone oil has excellent heat and cold resistance, so even if rotary dampers are used in tropical or cold regions, they will maintain their viscosity, and quality will not be affected.
Also, its shear resistance is extremely high compared to other types of oils, and TOK’s continuous rotation dampers use this shear resistance to generate torque.
In addition, silicone oil has a wide range of viscosities to meet various torque requirements. TOK uses silicone oil with viscosities ranging from 3,000 to 4.5 million mm2/s. The smaller the number is, the lower the viscosity is, so if we need rotary dampers with low torque, use silicone oil with low viscosity. It also has a very high compression ratio compared to other oils.
Because of these excellent characteristics, silicone oil has good compatibility with TOK’s rotary dampers and contributes to improving their quality.
TOK uses silicone oil of various viscosities and can set multiple torques according to your requirements. You can check our rotary damper catalog with a wide range of torque lineup here.
References
*These are in Japanese, so you need to translate to read it.
- “Shiseido Company, Limited.” What is mineral oil? Accessed 6 December 2022.
- “Yellow Hat Ltd.” What does mineral oil mean in common engine oil? We introduce other basic oils Accessed 6 December 2022.
- “CHUO YUKA CO.,LTD.” Basic knowledge of grease Accessed 6 December 2022.
- “ Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.” Oil Accessed 6 December 2022.
