Test of oil lubricant viscosity by using hall effect sensor

Abstract

This paper presents the test of oil lubricant. The viscosity of lubricant would decrease and the replacement of lubricant is required when the lubricant is used for a period of time. Hence, viscosity is a major factor that can indicate the quality of the lubricant. The fundamental method known as falling ball viscometer that is basically from Archimedes' principle including Newton's laws of motion were applied for the test. The sphere shaped object was replaced by a standard disc with the drill holes. The experiment was conducted by four new lubricant samples: SAE10W-30, SAE15W-40, SAE20W-50 and SAE90. From the reference position, the standard disc was released to the lubricant container and a timer was counted simultaneously by the microcontroller. The timer was stopped when Hall Effect sensor detected the disc at the bottom of the container. Falling time was compared to the viscosity from the standard rotational Viscometer, namely Brookfield Viscometer model DV-II+Pro to assess the relationship equation between falling time and viscosity. From study, the average error of falling time measurement was 0.109 Sec or 2.106% and the average viscosity error from the equation was 6.171 cP or 3.089% at room temperature (27°C). In addition, comparing to the standard Viscometer, the average percentage error was about 2.113%. Even though the accuracy of this method would not be outstanding, it is efficient with cost advantage compared to the expensive standard Viscometer.