Originally Posted by
Fractional1HP
The recommendation to grease such threads, is that actually "just" a prevention for seizing?
I.e. "grease" is here just used/recommended as an anti-seize material, and not for any kind of "original purpose" of grease, i.e. lubrication?
That's how it appears to me.
From Wikipedia:
Greases are applied to mechanisms that can only be lubricated infrequently and where a lubricating oil would not stay in position. They also act as sealants to prevent ingress of water and incompressible materials.
...
Greases are a type of shear-thinning or pseudo-plastic fluid, which means that the viscosity of the fluid is reduced under shear. After sufficient force to shear the grease has been applied, the viscosity drops and approaches that of the base lubricant, such as the mineral oil.
Seizing (or binding) can be caused by several factors:
- Very close tolerances that prevent parts from moving.
- Inter-metallic (galvanic) corrosion.
Grease solves (1) by lubrication. Grease solves (2) by insulating adjacent parts (as the job of lubrication), and by preventing ingress of H
2O that causes oxidation (corrosion).