JamesShort wrote:
Chuck, what you are describing is localized shear....and in my research is common among all multigrades oils or some straight weights (which do have a small amount of viscosity index improver polymers in some cases). The degree to which this happens is lesser in higher quality group IV/V PAO/POE oils (ie Euro oils

). I think higher HTHS is indicative of a lesser degree of localized shear for given circumstances.
Then there is permanent shear which is what we've been talking about and that's a whole other ballgame

.
I'd be interested in reading/browsing that book you mentioned.
Yep, exactly, I'm thinking about localized shear like in a rod bearing which was my impetus to study this book. Forget permanent shear for now -- it's hard enough trying to understand this crap as it is.

Amazingly, there are still many areas that haven't been fully researched in this subject. I say amazingly since I feel like "after this long" just about everything you could think of should have been beat to death in an engine (specifically thinking about oil delivery to rod bearings, entrained air effects, cavitation problems, etc).
You're welcome to borrow the book James. It's 832 pages of light bedtime reading.
http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Tribology-Third-Gwidon-Stachowiak/dp/0750678364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291251779&sr=8-1