Case Study: Automotive Seat Manufacturer

An automotive tier supplier that manufactures seating support systems approached Nye about their new lumbar assembly. The company needed a grease to lubricate the internal gear components of the small actuator motor that adjusts the lumbar and bolster supports on the front driver and passenger seats.

Challenge

The company was successfully using a Rheolube® product on similar applications, but wanted to reduce interior noise from the actuators at ambient and elevated temperatures. They also required a lubricant that satisfied their low temperature dynamic performance requirements and standard automotive interior operating ranges of -40°C to 85°C.

Testing

A PTFE-fortified, synthetic hydrocarbon grease was recommended because of its proven success inside the seat transmission housing of other customer applications. The OEM sampled products in the Rheolube®360 family. Tests were run on each one of the sampled products, including acoustic verification and full environmental life cycle testing. The life cycle tests included 60,000 overall adjustment cycles - ‘in and out position’ to the lumbar assembly.

Solution: Rheolube® 365F

After completing these tests, the company settled on Rheolube® 365F as it provided them sufficient performance at both low and high temperatures and an overall reduction in noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH).