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Calculating Grease Quantity, Frequency

Noria Corporation
Tags: greases, bearing lubrication, electric motor lubrication

Use this handy tool as a general guideline for establishing grease frequency and volume in bearings. If you

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need help creating precision calculations for your equipment, consider Noria's Lubrication Program
Development services.

Grease Volume and Frequency Calculator

Units of Measurement
Imperial Metric
Sizing Source Operating Temperature:
Make Selection Make Selection

Bearing Type: Particle Contamination:

Make Selection Make Selection

Width: Moisture:
in Make Selection

Outer Diameter: Vibration:

in Make Selection

Position:
Shaft Diameter:
Make Selection
in

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Shaft RPM:

The values calculated are based on the data that is input and may not reflect actual in-service
environments. To increase the accuracy of regrease volumes and frequencies we recommend the use
of condition-based tools such as grease analysis and ultrasound.

To calculate grease quantity, you need the bearing’s physical dimensions (primarily the outside diameter and
width). Once you have these two measurements (in inches), you multiply them together and then multiply by
0.114. The resulting answer is the grease quantity in ounces. This formula can be used with metric
measurements as well; just use 0.005 instead of 0.114. The result will be grease quantity in grams. This
formula works for all bearings and is widely accepted as the best way to calculate grease quantity.

Once the required grease volume has been calculated, you will need to determine how often to apply that
amount of grease. This timeframe is known as the regreasing frequency. This calculation is more complex.
The machine’s operating conditions must be collected along with some additional bearing information.

Temperature is known to affect both grease and oil, so naturally one of the first correcting factors that must
be collected is operating temperature. The hotter the environment, the more frequently the grease must be
replenished. The ambient contamination (how dusty the environment is) and moisture (how humid the
environment is) work in a similar manner. The dirtier and wetter the environment, the more often the bearing
must be regreased.
Simple things like the bearing’s physical position and vibration will also affect the grease’s run-out and
frequency of reapplication. If the bearing is mounted on a vertical shaft, the grease has a tendency to run out

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of the bearing quicker, thus needing to be replenished more often. When the bearing is subjected to
vibration, it causes the oil in the grease to separate from the thickener, allowing it to drain away from where
it is needed much faster. Therefore, these two correcting factors — position and vibration — should be taken
into consideration.
The final correcting factor is that of the bearing element shape. This is important because each different
element stresses the grease differently. For instance, a ball rolling across the race churns the grease
differently than a spherical element, which churns the grease much more heavily.

Below is a chart of these correcting factors and how they operate together. Once they have been calculated
properly, the final pieces of the puzzle are the bearing ID and speed of rotation. Through some simple math,
you are left with a run-time (in hours) frequency for regreasing.

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Reference: SKF

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