An American National Standard
Designation: D 2422 – 97 (Reapproved 2007)
Standard Classification of
Industrial Fluid Lubricants by Viscosity System1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 2422; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
1. Scope 3. Significance and Use
1.1 This classification is applicable to all petroleum-base 3.1 This classification establishes a series of definite viscos-
fluid lubricants and to those nonpetroleum materials which ity levels so that lubricant suppliers, lubricant users, and
may be readily blended to produce fluid lubricants of a desired equipment designers will have a uniform and common basis for
viscosity, that is, lubricants for bearings, gears, compressor designating, specifying, or selecting the viscosity of industrial
cylinders, hydraulic fluids, etc. fluid lubricants.
1.2 This classification is applicable to fluids ranging in 3.2 This classification is used to eliminate unjustified inter-
kinematic viscosity from 2 to 3200 cSt (mm2/s) as measured at mediate viscosities, thereby reducing the total number of
a reference temperature of 40°C. In the category of petroleum- viscosity grades used in the lubrication of industrial equipment.
base fluids, this covers the range from kerosine to heavy 3.3 This system provides a suitable number of viscosity
cylinder oils. grades, a uniform reference temperature, a uniform viscosity
1.3 Fluids of either lesser or greater viscosity than the range tolerance, and a nomenclature system for identifying the
described in 1.2 are, at present, seldom used as industrial viscosity characteristics of each grade.
lubricants. Should industrial practices change, then this system, 3.4 This system implies no evaluation of lubricant quality
based on a mathematical series of numbers, may be extended to and applies to no property of a fluid other than its viscosity at
retain its orderly progression. the reference temperature. It does not apply to those lubricants
used primarily with automotive equipment and identified with
2. Referenced Documents an SAE number.
2.1 ASTM Standards: 2
D 341 Test Method for Viscosity-Temperature Charts for 4. Basis of Classification
Liquid Petroleum Products 4.1 Twenty viscosity grades are given in Table 1 .
2.2 SAE Standard:3 4.2 Each grade shall be designated by its nominal viscosity
J 300 Engine Oil Viscosity Classification at 40°C.
2.3 ISO Standard:4 4.3 The permissible variance in viscosity of each grade shall
ISO 3448 Industrial Liquid Lubricants—ISO Viscosity be as shown in the two right-hand columns of Table 1. These
Classification limits are based upon a 610 % deviation from the mathemati-
cal values which were used as the basis of construction of this
system.
1
4.4 The lubricant supplier may choose to exert a manufac-
This classification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D02 on
Petroleum Products and Lubricants and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee
turing control on a given product that is closer than this 610 %
D02.L0.11 on Tribiological Properties of Industrial Fluids and Lubricants. tolerance. It is to be understood that any different percentage
Current edition approved May 1, 2007. Published June 2007. Originally variation that he uses will still guarantee maximum and
approved in 1965. Last previous edition approved in 2002 as D 2422 – 97 (2002). minimum values that are not outside the limits of the standard
2
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, [Link], or
contact ASTM Customer Service at service@[Link]. For Annual Book of ASTM viscosity grade limits. However, the lubricant purchaser or the
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on equipment designer shall not normally specify control closer
the ASTM website.
3
than the maximum and minimums established herein for a
Available from Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), 400 Commonwealth
Dr., Warrendale, PA 15096-0001, [Link]
given grade. Any exception to this rule shall be handled outside
4
Available from American National Standards Institute (ANSI), 25 W. 43rd St., the scope of this system and on a direct consumer-supplier
4th Floor, New York, NY 10036, [Link] relationship.
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.
1
D 2422 – 97 (2007)
TABLE 1 Viscosity System for Industrial Fluid LubricantsA effective only if used widely by designers, producers, and
Mid-Point Kinematic Viscosity consumers. There is nothing to prohibit use of a viscosity grade
Limits, cSt (mm2/s) at
Viscosity System Grade Viscosity,
40.0°CB,C
not listed in the system if the producer and consumer mutually
Identification cSt (mm2/s)
at 40.0°C agree. It may be expected, however, that viscosity grades not in
min max
accordance with this classification will be less readily available
ISO VG 2 2.2 1.98 2.4
ISO VG 3 3.2 2.88 3.52 to the purchaser than those grades which do conform.
ISO VG 5 4.6 4.14 5.06 5.2 For the sake of world-wide uniformity of nomenclature
ISO VG 7 6.8 6.12 7.48
in identifying the viscosity characteristics of fluid lubricants
ISO VG 10 10 9.00 11.0 the following wording shall be used to designate a particular
ISO VG 15 15 13.5 16.5
ISO VG 22 22 19.8 24.2
viscosity grade:
ISO VG 32 32 28.8 35.2 ISO viscosity grade ...
ISO VG 46 46 41.4 50.6
ISO VG 68 68 61.2 74.8 which may be abbreviated to:
ISO VG ...
ISO VG 100 100 90.0 110
ISO VG 150 150 135 165
ISO VG 220 220 198 242 The wording would be followed by the nominal viscosity at
ISO VG 320 320 288 352 40°C expressed in centistokes (millimetres squared per second)
ISO VG 460 460 414 506
ISO VG 680 680 612 748
units of measurement.
5.3 The establishment of standardized viscosity grades as
ISO VG 1000 1000 900 1100
ISO VG 1500 1500 1350 1650
has been done herein shall not imply nor require that every
ISO VG 2200 2200 1980 2420 viscosity grade be made available by all lubricant suppliers for
ISO VG 3200 3200 2880 3520 each and every type of fluid which he markets. The availability
A
B
This system implies no evaluation of quality. will be dictated by the demand that exists in any one locality at
This system is used in ISO 3448.
C
If 40°C is not the temperature used when determining the viscosity (as is any given point in time.
sometimes the case with very viscous fluids) then the related viscosity at 40°C
shall be established by using Viscosity Temperature Charts D 341.
6. Keywords
5. Adoption of System 6.1 classification; lubricant; viscosity
5.1 Adoption of this viscosity system is to be voluntary on
the part of all persons or organizations. The system will be
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