Friction and wear are estimated to cost up to 6% U.S. GNP or $1000 billion annually. Particularly, parasitic friction consumes 10-15% energy generated in an automotive engine. Tribology and lubrication science deals with the fundamentals of interacting surfaces in relative motion and of the practices related thereto. Use of rolling elements and lubricants for reducing friction has been practiced since ancient Egypt if not earlier. Advances in bearing design, materials, and lubricants have been sought throughout human history and the focus has gradually shifted from ‘mobility’ in ancient era to ‘durability’ and now to ‘efficiency’. The consensus is that more than 10% of energy used by the transportation, industrial and utilities sectors can be saved by new research and developments in tribology and lubrication.
Tribology deals with multiple scales in both space (from nanometers to kilometers) and time (from nano-seconds to years) domains and truly is interdisciplinary, involving mechanical engineering, materials science, and chemistry. A tribological interface is an extremely dynamic system with transient mechanical and thermal stress resulting in complex solid-solid and solid-liquid physicochemical interactions. These interactions depend on the surface material composition and mechanical properties as well as the lubricant viscosity and chemistry, and ultimately govern friction and wear behavior.
This Research Topic aims to capture the latest advances in tribology and lubrication research and development. Contributions are welcome from academic researchers as well as their industrial peers with new experimental and modeling results from nanoscale phenomena to real-world applications.
Friction and wear are estimated to cost up to 6% U.S. GNP or $1000 billion annually. Particularly, parasitic friction consumes 10-15% energy generated in an automotive engine. Tribology and lubrication science deals with the fundamentals of interacting surfaces in relative motion and of the practices related thereto. Use of rolling elements and lubricants for reducing friction has been practiced since ancient Egypt if not earlier. Advances in bearing design, materials, and lubricants have been sought throughout human history and the focus has gradually shifted from ‘mobility’ in ancient era to ‘durability’ and now to ‘efficiency’. The consensus is that more than 10% of energy used by the transportation, industrial and utilities sectors can be saved by new research and developments in tribology and lubrication.
Tribology deals with multiple scales in both space (from nanometers to kilometers) and time (from nano-seconds to years) domains and truly is interdisciplinary, involving mechanical engineering, materials science, and chemistry. A tribological interface is an extremely dynamic system with transient mechanical and thermal stress resulting in complex solid-solid and solid-liquid physicochemical interactions. These interactions depend on the surface material composition and mechanical properties as well as the lubricant viscosity and chemistry, and ultimately govern friction and wear behavior.
This Research Topic aims to capture the latest advances in tribology and lubrication research and development. Contributions are welcome from academic researchers as well as their industrial peers with new experimental and modeling results from nanoscale phenomena to real-world applications.
