Tribology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes
the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear. Tribology is highly
interdisciplinary in nature and draws upon several academic areas including: physics, chemistry,
materials science and engineering.

The word tribology derives from the Greek root τριβ- of the verb τρίβω, tribo, "I rub" in classic
Greek and the suffix -logy from -λογία, -logia "study of", "knowledge of". It was coined by Peter
Jost in 1966,[1] who produced an eponymous report which highlighted the cost of friction, wear
and corrosion to the UK economy.[2]

Contents
 1 History
o 1.1 Early History
o 1.2 Stribeck Curve
o 1.3 The Jost Report
o 1.4 Worldwide Importance
 2 Applications
o 2.1 Traditional Research Areas
o 2.2 New Research Areas
 3 See also
 4 References
  5 External links

History

Tribological experiments suggested by Leonardo da Vinci

Early History

Despite the relatively recent naming of the field of tribology, quantitative studies of friction can
be traced as far back as 1493, when Leonardo da Vinci first noted the two fundamental ‘laws’ of
friction.[3] According to da Vinci, the frictional resistance was the same for two different objects
of the same weight but making contacts over different widths and lengths. He also observed that
the force needed to overcome friction doubles when the weight doubles. However, da Vinci's
findings remained unpublished in his notebooks.[3]

The two fundamental ‘laws’ of friction were first published (in 1699) by Guillaume Amontons,
with whose name they are now usually associated, they state that:[3]

1. the force of friction acting between two sliding surfaces is proportional to the load
pressing the surfaces together
2. the force of friction is independent of the apparent area of contact between the two
surfaces.

Although not universally applicable, these simple statements hold for a surprisingly wide range
of systems.[4] These laws were further developed by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (in 1785),
who noticed that sliding (kinetic) friction is independent of the sliding velocity.[5]

In 1798, Charles Hatchett and Henry Cavendish carried out the first reliable test on frictional
wear. In a study commissioned by the Privy Council of the UK, they used a simple reciprocating
machine to evaluate the rate wear of gold coins. They found that coins with grit between them
wore at a faster rate compared to self-mated coins.[6] In 1953, John. F Archard developed the
Archard equation which describes sliding wear and is based on the theory of asperity contact.[7]

Other early pioneers of tribology research included Australian physicist Frank Philip Bowden[8]
and British physicist David Tabor,[9] both of Cavendish Laboratory. Together they authored the
seminal textbook 'The Friction and Lubrication of Solids'[10] (Part I originally published in 1950
and Part II in 1964). Michael J. Neale was another leader the field of tribology during the mid-to-
late 1900's. He specialized in solving problems in machinery design by applying his knowledge
of tribology. Neale was respected as an educator with a gift for integrating theoretical work with
his own practical experience to produce easy-to-understand design guides. The Tribology
Handbook,[11] which he first edited in 1973 and updated in 1995, is still used around the world
and forms the basis of numerous training courses for engineering designers.

Duncan Dowson surveyed the history of tribology in his 1997 book History of Tribology (2nd
edition).[5] This covers developments from prehistory, through early civilizations (Mesopotamia,
ancient Egypt) and highlights the key developments up to the end of the twentieth century.

Stribeck Curve

The "Stribeck curve"is named after Richard Stribeck,[12][13][14] and Mayo D. Hersey[15][16] who
developed it during the first half of the 20th century. It describes the variation in friction between
two liquid-lubricated surfaces as a function of a dimensionless lubrication parameter (the Hersey
number). The Hersey number can be defined as: ηN/P, where η is the dynamic viscosity, N is the
sliding speed, and P is the load.

Schematic Stribeck curve

(Hersey number on horizontal axis, Friction on vertical)
1. Boundary lubrication
2. Mixed lubrication
3. Hydrodynamic lubrication

Stribeck curves describe the transition between different lubrication regimes with increasing
speed for liquid-lubricated sliding surfaces, these can be broadly categorized as:

Solid surfaces come into direct contact, load supported mainly by

1. Boundary lubrication
surface asperities, high friction
Some asperity contact, load supported by both asperities and the
2. Mixed lubrication
liquid lubricant
Hydrodynamic
3. Negligible asperity contact, load supported mainly by liquid lubricant
lubrication

Richard Stribeck's research was performed in Berlin at the Royal Prussian Technical Testing
Institute (MPA, now BAM). Similar work was previously performed around 1885 by Adolf
Martens at the same institute,[17] and also in the mid-1870s by Robert Henry Thurston[18][19] at the
Stevens Institute of Technology in the U.S. The reason why the form of the friction curve for
liquid lubricated surfaces was later attributed to Stribeck, although both Thurston and Martens
achieved their results considerably earlier may be because Stribeck published in the most
important technical journal in Germany at that time, Zeitschrift des Vereins Deutscher
Ingenieure (VDI, Journal of German Mechanical Engineers). Martens published his results in the
official journal of the Royal Prussian Technical Testing Institute, which has now become BAM.
The VDI journal was one of the most important journals for engineers and provided wide access
to these data and later colleagues rationalized the results into the three classical friction regimes.
Thurston did not have the experimental means to record a continuous graph of the coefficient of
friction but only measured it at discrete points. This may be the reason why the minimum in the
coefficient of friction for a liquid-lubricated journal bearing was not discovered by him, but was
demonstrated by the graphs of Martens and Stribeck.

A typical Stribeck curve obtained by Martens[17]

The graphs of friction force reported by Stribeck stem from a carefully conducted, wide-ranging
series of experiments on journal bearings. Stribeck systematically studied the variation of friction
between two liquid lubricated surfaces. His results were presented on 5 December 1901 during a
public session of the railway society[12] and published on 6 September 1902,[13] They clearly
showed the minimum value of friction as the demarcation between full fluid-film lubrication and
some solid asperity interactions. Stribeck studied different bearing materials and aspect ratios
D/L from 1:1 to 1:2. The maximum sliding speed was 4 m/s and the contact pressure was limited
to 5 MPa, conditions relevant to railway wagon journal bearings.

The Jost Report

The term tribology became widely used following 'The Jost Report', published in 1966.[1] The
report highlighted the huge cost of friction, wear and corrosion to the UK economy (1.1-1.4% of
GDP).[1] As a result, the UK government established several national centres for tribology to
address tribological problems. Since then the term has diffused into the international community,
with many specialists now identifying as 'tribologists'.

There are now numerous national and international societies, including: the Society for
Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) in the USA, the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers' and Institute of Physics (IMechE Tribology Group, IOP Tribology Group) in the UK,
the German Society for Tribology (Gesellschaft für Tribologie), the Malaysian Tribology Society
(MYTRIBOS), the Japanese Society of Tribologists (JAST), and the Chinese Mechanical
Engineering Society (Chinese Tribology Institute).

Technical universities all over the world have researchers working on tribology problems, often
as part of mechanical engineering departments. However, tribology groups now generally
include at least as many materials scientisits, physicists and chemists as they do mechanical
engineers.

Worldwide Importance

Despite considerable research since The Jost Report, the global impact of friction and wear on
energy consumption, economic expenditure, and carbon dioxide emissions are still considerable.
In 2017, Kenneth Holmberg and Ali Erdemir attempted to quantify their impact worldwide.[20]
They considered the four main energy consuming sectors: transportation, manufacturing, power
generation, and residential. The following were concluded:[20]

 In total, ~23% of the world’s total energy consumption originates from tribological
contacts. Of that 20% is used to overcome friction and 3% is used to remanufacture
worn parts and spare equipment due to wear and wear-related failures.
 By taking advantage of the new surface, materials, and lubrication technologies for
friction reduction and wear protection in vehicles, machinery and other equipment
worldwide, energy losses due to friction and wear could potentially be reduced by 40% in
the long term (15 years) and by 18% in the short term (8 years). On a global scale, these
savings would amount to 1.4% of GDP annually and 8.7% of the total energy
consumption in the long term.
 The largest short term energy savings are envisioned in transportation (25%) and in the
power generation (20%) while the potential savings in the manufacturing and residential
sectors are estimated to be ~10%. In the longer term, the savings would be 55%, 40%,
25%, and 20%, respectively.
 Implementing advanced tribological technologies can also reduce global carbon dioxide
emissions by as much as 1,460 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2) and
result in 450,000 million Euros cost savings in the short term. In the long term, the
reduction could be as large as 3,140 MtCO2 and the cost savings 970,000 million Euros.

Applications
Tribology problems range from macro to nano scales, in areas as diverse as the movement of
continental plates and glaciers to the locomotion of animals and insects.[21] Until recently, most
tribology research was concentrated on transportation and manufacturing sectors, but this has
considerably diversified in recent times.

Traditional Research Areas

Historically, most tribology research concentrated on the design and effective lubrication of
machine components, particularly for bearings. However, the study of tribology extends into
almost all other aspects of modern technology and any system where one material slides over
another can be affected by complex tribological interactions.[21]

Tribology has played an important the transportation industry, with effective lubrication of
moving parts being critical to human progress. In the past, tribology research in the
transportation industry focused on reliability, ensuring the safe, continuous operation of machine
components. Over the last few decades, due to an increased focus on energy consumption,
efficiency has become increasingly important and thus transportation lubricants have become
progressively more complex and sophisticated in order to improve this.[21]

Tribology also plays an important role in manufacturing. For example, in metal-forming

operations, friction increases tool wear and the power required to work a piece. This results in
increased costs due to more frequent tool replacement, loss of tolerance as tool dimensions shift,
and greater forces required to shape a piece. The use of lubricants which minimize direct surface
contact reduces tool wear and power requirements.[22]

New Research Areas

Since the 1990s, new interdisciplinary areas of tribology have emerged, including the
nanotribology, biotribology, and green tribology. Nanotribology and biotribology study friction,
wear and lubrication in nanoscale and biological systems respectively, whilst green tribology
focuses on ecological considerations, such as sustainable sourcing of lubricant feed-stocks.
Nanotribology is becoming increasingly important as devices become smaller (e.g.
micro/nanoelectromechanical systems, MEMS/NEMS) and research has been aided by the
invention of Atomic Force Microscopy.

Recently, intensive studies of superlubricity (phenomenon of vanishing friction) have sparked

due to increasing demand for energy savings.[23] Development of new materials, such as
graphene, have initiated the development of fundamentally new approaches to tribology
problems.[24]