These acronyms are driving me crazy

By Mark Devlin, Contributing Editor | TLT Lubrication Fundamentals January 2026

Let’s connect the dots between the science, business and challenges in the lubrication field. 

Have you ever been to an STLE conference and overheard a comment such as: “ASTM and CEC have published new methods that the EOVCTF is going to add to the SAE J300 specifications. I wonder if these methods will affect the API specifications for FEI in the VIE?”1-5

If you understand this sentence, you have been in the industry a long time (and if I did not get this sentence quite right, let me know). If you have no clue what this sentence means, you are reading the right article. In this series of TLT Lubrication Fundamentals articles, I hope to guide those who are new to the industry through the basics of the industry and how solutions to real industry problems are related to lubrication fundamentals. If you have been around the industry for a while I hope this series of articles gives you a refreshed view of how crucial this industry is to solving problems that affect everyone’s lives.

Before going further, I want to thank all of the contributors to previous TLT Lubrication Fundamentals articles. You can find these previous articles by visiting www.stle.org/TLTArchives. These previous articles have many detailed descriptions of mechanical devices, basic lubrication concepts and summaries of specific topics in tribology and lubrication engineering. I will use these articles as references and periodically I will suggest reading some of these articles as “Mark’s homework assignments.” Previous authors have written great explanations of fundamental lubrication topics, and there is no reason for me to rewrite what already exists. For the homework I will add a brief introduction describing how the previous article fits well with the current series of TLT Lubrication Fundamentals articles.

The overall purpose of the articles I am writing is to “connect the dots” between the science, business and challenges in the lubrication field. The concepts in future articles have been published previously in articles that I have helped co-author or are from papers I found to be the most useful in understanding the lubricant business. I may not go into as much detail as these previously published works but will add references for you to explore on your own. If you need to check a specific fact about a given topic, feel free to search through the previous TLT Lubrication Fundamentals articles or perform your own search. I want the articles I write to be a series of conversations discussing lubrication fundamentals rather than a rigorous citation of equations and scientific principles. 

So back to the initial sentences in this initial article. Our industry loves acronyms as shown in the first quote, so here is a short list of acronyms and definitions to get us started and allow us to talk to one another in a meaningful way.

ACEA = Association des Constructeurs Européens d’Automobiles (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association)
AGMA = American Gear Manufacturers Association
API = American Petroleum Institute
ASTM = ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials)
ATF = Automatic transmission fluid
BOI = Base oil interchange
BSFC = Brake specific fuel consumption
CAFE = Corporate average fuel economy 
CARB = California Air Resources Board
CEC = Coordinating European Council
CMA = Chemical Manufacturers Association
DI = Detergent inhibitor
EOVCTF = Engine Oil Viscosity Classification Task Force
EPA = Environmental Protection Agency
FEI = Fuel economy improvement
FTP = Federal Test Procedure
HDEO (HDDO) = Heavy duty engine oil (heavy duty diesel oil)
HTHS = High temperature high shear
ILSAC = International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee
ISO = International Organization for Standardization
JAMA = Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
JASO = Japanese Automotive Standards Organization
OEM = Original equipment manufacturer
PAPTG = Product Approval Protocol Task Group
PCMO (PCEO) = Passenger car motor oil (passenger car engine oil)
SAE (JSAE) = Society of Automotive Engineers (Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan)
VGRA = Viscosity Grade Read Across
VI (VII) = Viscosity index (viscosity index improver)

This list is by no means exhaustive, so feel free to create your own list of acronyms with this being a starting point
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In this list you will see the names of several industry societies such as ACEA, AGMA, ASTM and ILSAC. Today some of these organizations use the acronyms as their official names. For example, ASTM International serves the needs of more than just the “American” market.1 These organizations work in concert to suggest the needed performance properties of lubricants, develop tests to quantify these performance properties and set limits (specifications) for test results that determine if a lubricant meets the needs of the OEMs (just checking to see if you read the acronym list).4,5 OEMs will also work with lubricant suppliers and testing facilities to develop tests that meet their specific needs.

For example, in the transportation sector, “needs statements” are published that are similar to the following (in my articles I will start with examples from the transportation sector, engine oils, transmission fluids and axle oils, but will branch out to other sectors where appropriate):

“The primary function of a lubricating oil is to … provide a hydrodynamic film between moving parts. A lubricant must do this under widely varying load and temperature conditions. … Additional important lubricating oil functions are … dispersant properties for minimizing problems arising from … fuel combustion products such as water, soot and organic and inorganic acids. .... Contaminants entering a crankcase oil are often corrosive to metal parts and promote the formation of rust, varnish and sludge, which interfere with efficient and trouble-free operation. … Finally, for many applications, extreme pressure (EP) properties must be built into oils to provide lubrication where hydrodynamic oil films break down. The valve trains of modern engines are an example of such an area. … Summing up, modern engine lubricants must provide all the functions to cope with the problems of high specific output engines of high pressures, temperatures and contaminant levels. In addition, they must retain lubricating properties for long periods of use under a wide range of ambient temperatures.”6

This needs statement was published in 1964 but reflects many of the performance properties required of current engine oils. I intentionally picked this 1964 statement since 60 plus years later, the main performance features of an engine oil have not changed that much. However, the operating conditions under which the engine oil must operate have become much more severe, which means that the quality and absolute performance of an engine oil has significantly improved. Translating needs statements to practical testing and specifications for new lubricants to optimize the performance of new equipment and machinery is one of the most important aspects of this industry. I will give more details of this process as part of this TLT Lubrication Fundamentals series.

It is important to point out a few critical needs that exist now that did not exist in 1964: fuel efficiency and exhaust emission control. Fuel efficiency improvements and exhaust emission reductions have been driven by worldwide government regulations.7-9 However, vehicle owners and fleet operators benefit from fuel efficiency gains, and the general population benefits from emission reductions. For example, in 2020 I bought a hybrid sedan to replace the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) sedan I previously owned. My hybrid vehicle can go ~45 mpg rather than ~25 mpg for the ICE vehicle (I will describe how these values are determined in a future article). That saves me about $2,000 per year, which lets me play a lot more golf. So, these benefits are not just for society as a whole but individuals. Make sure you thank a tribologist or engineer for this.

The benefits of efficiency improvements are not restricted to the transportation industry. Increasing energy needs for data centers that support artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto-currency businesses are putting a premium on energy generation. Furthermore, commercial enterprises in these sectors (and all economic sectors) want to minimize any unnecessary energy losses. Energy efficiency is such a critical topic in our industry that it will be a theme throughout most of the articles in the current TLT Lubrication Fundamentals series.

In 1964 the engine oil needs statement suggests that… “the chief benefit to the customer of longer drain oils is not one of cost but of savings in time and trouble.”6 This time and trouble savings drove engine technology. Even with fuel efficiency and emissions being the current drivers for changes in engine technology, smooth engine operation for extended miles is still the most important need. For example, small engines which reduce vehicle mass to improve fuel economy are equipped with turbochargers to boost power. Deposits in turbochargers will interfere with their operation, so engine oils must control turbocharger deposits in order to realize efficiency gains.10 If you want to learn about other emerging trends, please see the 2023 STLE Report on Emerging Issues and Trends in Tribology and Lubrication Engineering.11 Previous versions of these STLE trends reports described technologies that would impact engine oil performance, including 1.) increased compression ratios, 2.) use of lighter materials in vehicle construction, 3.) use of coatings to reduce friction and wear and 4.) increased use of biofuels. Clearly longer term trends also include an increase in the number of hybrid and electric vehicles, which are impacting the performance features needed in transportation lubricants. 

I am a physical chemist and have had to deal with a lot of fundamental concepts that are reduced to equations. However, I learned best when seeing the importance of a concept and how it is applied. For example, when I first learned Newton’s equations of motion, my physics teacher in high school had a pool table in the classroom, and we played pool. He had us ask questions and, in so doing, we learned about vectors, conservation of momentum and, yes, even friction. Learning physics helped us be better pool players, which made it more exciting. In this series on Lubrication Fundamentals, I hope to describe the importance of tribology and lubrication engineering and how the fundamentals help solve very important problems that face our society. I will do this by using a minimal number of equations, but rather I will give conceptual examples. In this way the fundamentals are not a series of complex scientific principles but practical problem-solving tools.

In my next article we will set the larger economic stage for the importance of tribology and lubrication engineering. I will make reference to the Stribeck curve, and former TLT writer Dan Holdmeyer wrote a wonderful article on this topic, which will be your first homework assignment.12 So, what does the first sentence of this article mean? Be patient and you will see that there is not a simple answer to that question since it involves learning quite a bit of lubrication fundamentals. 

REFERENCES
1. www.astm.org
2. https://cectests.org
3. www.agma.org
4. www.sae.org/standards/content/j300_202405
5. www.api.org/products-and-services/engine-oil/eolcs-categories-and-classifications/oil-categories
6. Malone, B.W. and Henderson, B.M. (1964) “Trends in engine lubricant development,” SAE 640113.
7. www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2022-title49/USCODE-2022-title49-subtitleVI-partC-chap329
8. www.epa.gov/emission-standards-reference-guide
9. www.epa.gov/fueleconomy
10. Becker, E. (2014), “The challenges of turbocharging,” TLT, 70 (6), p. 94. Available at www.stle.org/files/TLTArchives/2014/06_June/Automotive_Tribology.aspx.
11. Canter, N. (2023), “2023 STLE report on emerging issues and trends in tribology and lubrication engineering.” Available at www.stle.org/files/White_Papers/2023_Emerging_Trends_Report.aspx.
12. Holdmeyer, D. (2022), “The Stribeck curve,” TLT, 78 (7), pp. 24-25. Available at www.stle.org/files/TLTArchives/2022/07_July/Lubrication_Fundamentals.aspx.

Mark Devlin is a retired chemist and STLE Fellow living in Richmond, Va. You can reach him at markdstle@gmail.com.