vierballentests

Vierballentests is a term used in German-language technical literature to describe experimental procedures that employ four balls in the contact arrangement to study mechanical interaction, wear, or material properties. The most common usage appears in tribology, where the Vierballen-Wear-Test or Four-Ball wear test is a standard method for evaluating lubricants and their anti-wear characteristics. In this setup, three stationary balls are held in a cup while a fourth ball is rotated against them under a controlled load. The test measures friction, wear scar diameters on the stationary balls, and sometimes the weld load at which surface damage occurs, providing data on wear resistance and extreme-pressure properties of the fluid under test.

This family of tests is not uniquely defined by a single protocol; multiple standards exist, with variations in ball material and diameter, lubricant type, loads, speeds, and duration. The general goal is to characterize how a lubricant or material resists wear under boundary lubrication conditions and high contact pressures. Outside tribology, the term may appear in contexts such as ball-based mechanical tests or educational demonstrations, but these usages are less formal and not standardized. In practice, Vierballentests are primarily associated with assessing lubricants and surface interactions in engineering and materials science, with several international standards providing detailed procedures for specific applications. See also four-ball wear test and four-ball EP test for related methods.