Lecture notes:

https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/lec01.pdf
……..
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/lec42.pdf

TRIBOLOGY
http://www.youtube.com/playlist
?list=PLbMVogVj5nJRCfyN1QEiBsN
Fek8d00kWw Tribological
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/mcl748.
pdf System Design

Harish Hirani
Professor (HAG), Department of Mechanical Engineering,

IIT Delhi, hirani@iitd.ac.in, harishhirani6982@gmail.com

 Objectives
On successful completion of this course, a
student will be able to:
 Analyze tribological systems for the design of load
bearing surfaces under dynamic loading. Physical
 Evolve analytical formulations relating surface conditions,
different types of lubrications, bearing design, clutches,
brakes etc. Virtual
 Conduct lubricant, materials and design selection for any
given tribological requirement.
 Tribology?
 TRIBOS (Greek word) = RUBBING (English word)
 triboLOGY (term coined in 1966) = Science of Rubbing
A science that deals with friction, lubrication and wear
in all contacting pairs.
 Tribologicalknowledge helps to Improve service life,
safety and reliability of interacting machine
components; and yields substantial economic benefits.
Ball roughness at
Start

Ball roughness
at end
Does Tribological system Change with Time ?

Hardness
equality
Few Examples requiring tribological
knowledge
Adhesive wear

Carbon Graphite Seal

Example 2: Cam

Pitting wear of cam surface

 Journal Bearing
Ex: Journal Bearings

Abrasive Wear Rubbing Wear

Purpose of oil. High/low viscosity oil

 Ex: Magnetic Bearing
Wear scar

Wear scar due to edge loading

Ex: Multi-row Roller Bearing

Failure of large size roller bearing

 Maintenance
 Every tribo-system degrades with time.
 Gradual (Mild)/Severe
 Online monitoring of the tribo-system
 Predictive (RUL.. Remaining Useful Life)
 Proactive (COVID-Vaccine)
 Data Analytics: Online monitoring with data interpretation to
formulate strategies to mitigate & eliminate faults
 Industry 4.0
 Machine Learning: Characterization of the resulting surface
topography. Data-driven (adaptive learning) approach to detect
patterns and create proactive models. Useful for design of material
compositions to lubricant formulations.
 Digital Twin: Physical System, Virtual system, Digital
thread (integrate data collection, processing, software and control
action)… Modelling full system without assumption is
computationally expensive.
Summary of previous lecture
 Availability
of 42 lectures on Youtube. Lecture-Notes in
word format and Slides in pdf format on my webpage.
 Tribologyis science of interacting surfaces and requires
system approaches to analyze tribo-pairs.
 Tribological knowledge is required to improve service
life, safety and reliability of mechanical systems
consisting of relatively moving surfaces. Industrial
tribological knowledge yields substantial economic
benefits.
 Every tribo-system degrades with time and to yield
substantial economic benefits health monitoring of the
system is essential need. To improve reliability, digital
twin approach is to be implemented.
 Contents
 Lubrication, Friction and Wear aspects in Design
 Tribological Surfaces – Measures of Roughness
 Regimes of Lubrication; Boundary lubrication and lubricants.
 Viscosity - its representation and measurement, apparent
viscosity.
 Selection of Bearings - Rubbing, Fluid Film, Rolling Element.
 Lubricants - Types and Selection.
 Bearing Design - Rubbing, Fluid Film Journal and Thrust,
Dynamically Loaded, Rolling Element, Design of lubrication
Systems.
 Introduction to maintenance of Bearings, Seals, Linear
Bearing Design, Slideways.
 Material considerations for selected tribological applications.
 Topic No. of hours
1 Lubrication, Friction and Wear consideration in Design 3
2 Tribological Surfaces - Roughness 3
3 Mechanisms of Lubrication, Friction & Wear, Regimes of Lubrication
6
4 Boundary lubrication and lubricants, 4
5 Viscosity- its representation & measurement, Apparent Viscosity 3
6 Selection of Bearings - Rubbing, Fluid Film, Rolling Element 4
7 Lubricants - Types and Selection 3
8 Bearing Design - Rubbing, Fluid Film Journal and Thrust, 7
Dynamically Loaded, Rolling Element, Linear Bearing Design,
Slideways, Seals
9 Lubrication Systems - Selection and Design Considerations,
Maintenance of Bearings 5
10 Material Considerations for Various Tribological Applications 4
Roughness 3 lectures?
Brief description of Practical / Practice activities

Description No. of hours

Bearing design 4
Lubricant tester 7
Tribometry 7
Surface metrology 5
Friction and wear mechanism study 5

Self learning component (25-30%)

Assignments
 HISTORY
 September 1964 -- Conference on Lubrication in
Iron and Steel Works in Cardiff (UK) : Realization of
considerable losses due to lack of knowledge
related friction and wear of machine components.
 Formation of committee by UK Minister of State for
science to investigate the questions of lubrication
education, research and need of industry.
 Conclusions of Committee: Interdisciplinary
approach embracing solid & fluid mechanics,
chemistry, and material science is essential to
address lubrication related problems. New name
“Tribology” was coined (even for dictionary) in
1966.
 HISTORY …
 After 1966, the word “Tribology” has been used for
 Basic mechanisms governing interfacial behavior.
 Basic theories quantifying interfacial mechanisms.
 Solutions to important friction and wear problems.
 1981:Development of “Scanning tunneling
microscope” and systematic theory based on
“Contact mechanics”… Asperity contact
 1985: Development of Atomic Force Microscope
 Measurement of surface topography & friction force of
all engineering surfaces.
 Studies of adhesion, scratching, wear, lubrication,
surface temperatures and measurements of
elastic/plastic mechanical properties.
Need of TRIBOLOGY
Friction,wear and lubrication have been
taught in science and engineering
classes, but at a rudimentary level.
 Fs  Load; s > k
Inherently complicated and
Empirically
interconnected origins of most approaches
tribological phenomena. predictive only
over a limited
Integrationof knowledge from range of
parameters
multifaceted disciplines.
 Various disciplines in Tribology
 Solid Mechanics: Focus is on
expressions of contact stresses and
surface temperatures due to sliding.
 Fluid Mechanics: Study of lubricant
film formed between various
geometric shapes of sliding surfaces.
 Material Science: Focus is on atomic
and micro scales mechanisms
whereby solid surface degradation or
alteration occurs during relative
motion.
 Chemistry: Deals with reactivity
between lubricants and solid surfaces.
Example to demonstrate the role
of various disciplines in TRIBOLOGY
 Motionunder load
induces stresses:
 breakage/elastic bending of
surface asperities
 plastic deformation/ploughing
 E  
(grooving) of soft surface.   0.6 
H 

Useful life
Role of Elastic Deformation
Plasticity index

 E  
  0.6 
H 

Fig. Using elasticity to smooth the ride s > k ??

 Elasticallydeformed substance fills the irregular surfaces
and provides smooth ride.
 Cyclic loading  limiting life
 Roughness

F
stress on smooth surface 
A
F
stress on rough surface 
A
Summary of II lecture
 Due to asperity contact, only a small portion of total area
supports the major fraction of load… High compressive
stresses…
 Significant role of surface roughness in determining
tribological performance.
 To optimize the performance of Tribo-systems, one
requires to examines surfaces (initial as well as during
operation) using sophisticated equipment (STM, AFM).
 Plasticity index depends on effective Young’s modulus,
hardness of softer material, surface roughness, and
correlation length.
 Bathtub curve predicts the service life of tribo-system.
 Surface Roughness

 Surface roughness is vertical deviations from

nominal surface/line. Larger the deviations, rougher
the surface.

Roughness
changes with
operating time.
Average Roughness (Ra)
Root Mean Square Roughness (Rrms)
Quantification of
Surface Roughness

1
𝑅 𝑧 𝑥 𝑚 𝑑𝑥 1
𝑙
𝑅 𝑧 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑙
Ra   z1  z 2  ... z n 1  z n  / n

Rrms
Rq (root mean square) roughness is preferred over Ra
(Average) roughness.

Lesser value of Rq
is preferred.

Segmented
surfaces.
Stylus method of surface
roughness measurement
Surface roughness confines contact between solids to a very
small fraction of nominally available contact area

Ra values in micron Roughness grade

number (ISO class)
0.025 N1
0.05 N2
0.1 N3
0.2 N4
0.4 N5
0.8 N6
1.6 N7
3.2 N8
6.3 N9
12.5 N10
25 N11
50 N12
Standard method to
estimate roughness
parameters
Surface finishing operations
• Dimensionless film Boundary Lubrication

parameter  (“Specific film Mixed Lubrication

Hydrodynamic Lubrication
thickness)

WEAR Rate
hmin

2
Rrms ,a  R 2
rms ,b

• Boundary lubrication, <1

LOAD/TEMPERATURE
• Mixed lubrication, 1<<3
• Hydrodynamic lubrication,
>5
• Elastohydrodynamic,
3<<5
• Wear depends upon degree of surface roughness.
• >5 is not sufficient enough to ensure
full film thickness. On an average
highest peak is about 2.5 times the rms
value, but it may as high as 3.9.
Quantification by
specific film thickness
Case: Surface roughness
of journal & bearing are
given as 0.25 µm and
0.50 µm respectively.
The minimum film
thickness is 4µm. The
specific film thickness
???
Summary of last 3 lectures
 Tribology being surface phenomenon, surface
roughness is one of important parameters.
 In determining Friction & Wear; Also to entrap lubricant & wear
debris.

Superfinishing

 Friction and wear are not intrinsic material properties

but are system-properties in which the materials
operate.
 Rudimentary level knowledge (Fs  Load; s > k)
must be investigated scientifically
Lecture notes:
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/lec03.pdf
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/lec04.pdf
https://web.iitd.ac.in/~hirani/lec05.pdf

TRIBOLOGY
http://www.youtube.com/playlist
?list=PLbMVogVj5nJRCfyN1QEiBsN
Fek8d00kWw
FRICTION
THEORIES

Harish Hirani
Professor (HAG), Department of Mechanical Engineering,

IIT Delhi, hirani@iitd.ac.in, harishhirani6982@gmail.com

 Some Typical Values of Coefficient of
Friction for Metals sliding on themselves
Virgin Metals Sliding on themselves µ
Aluminum 1.5 Friction coefficients
Copper 1.5 values will be useful
Gold 2.5 only if the conditions
Iron 1.2 used to obtain them are
Platinum 3
Silver 1.5
clearly stated and
Steel(mild steel) 0.8 qualified.
Steel(tool steel) 0.4

Friction stir welding (FSW): Solid-

Observations: state joining process. Avoids defects
1.  > 1.0 due to melting and then solidification of
2. Mild steel vs Tool steel materials. Suitable for joining of metals
3.  depends on environment. having high friction coefficient
Coefficient of friction for various Metals
Observations:
1. Virgin material?
2. Similar materials?
3. Under dry lubricant
conditions,  ranges
between 0.1 to 1.0 for
most of the materials.
4. Very thin lubrication
reduces coefficient by 10
times.
Initial guess to choose Tribo-pair

Observation: Similar materials have higher tendency of

adhesion.
 Static & Kinetic
Frictions
 for wood-on-wood reported
  0.5 in various articles.

60
Friciton Force (N)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Applied Force (N)
Difference between the static and
kinetic friction may initiate ‘stick-slip’.
 Observations
1.  > 1.0.
2.  depends on environment, hardness, and chemical
composition.
3. Very thin and thick lubrications reduce  by 10 and 100 times,
respectively.
4. Tribo-pair consisting of similar materials have higher tendency
of .
5. Difference between  may initiate friction instability.
6. Economics: Approx. 2,500+ Trillion euro annually are lost due
to the tribological contacts, in which ~70% is due the friction.
By applying the methodologies of tribology and materials
engineering, it is estimated that 40% of total energy loses due
to friction can be reduced.

There is a need to understand science of friction.

 Dry FRICTION

 Leonardo da vinci(Earliest experimenter, 1452-

1519):
 “Friction made by same weight will be of equal
resistance at the beginning of movement, although
contact may be of different breadths or length”. F  A
 “Friction produces the double the amount of effort if
weight be doubled”. F α W
 G. Amontons, 1699:
 Rediscovered Leonardo da vinci laws. F  A; Fα N
  = 0.33 for most of materials.
C.A.Coulomb 1781 (1736-1806):
1) Clearly distinguished between static & kinetic friction
2) Contact at discrete points.
 static   kinetic
3) Friction due to interlocking of rough surfaces and
dependents on normal pressure

4)f  func(A)
Zero deformation
5)f  func(v)
TOMLINSON’s Theory of Molecular attraction:
1929
 Relation between friction coefficient & elastic properties
of material involved.
f  1 . 07 *  I  II 2 / 3 E is young modulus, Mpsi
3 . E  4 .G
  G is modulus in shear, Mpsi
G (3 .* E  G )

 Clean Steel E=30 Mpsi, G=12 Mpsi 0.6558

 Aluminum E=10 Mpsi, G=3.6 Mpsi 0.742
 Titanium E=15.5 Mpsi G=6.5 Mpsi 0.5039
Scientific Explanation of Dry Friction
• Two friction sources
• Deformation a
• Adhesion
• Resulting friction force (F) is
sum of two contributing (Fa &
Fd) terms. Fd

• Lubricated tribo-pair case -- ,

negligible adhesion
• Smoother surfaces under
light load conditions –
Negligible deformation.
 FRICTION due to DEFORMATION
 Contact between tribo-pairs only
occurs at discrete points.
 Slop of asperities governs the
friction force.
 Harder asperities penetrate into
2r
the softer surface.
• Assume n conical asperities of hard metal in
contact with flat soft metal, vertically project area
of contact: 
A  n 0.5 * r 2 
W  n(0.5 * r ) H 2
F  n (rh) H
2
d  cot 

Cone Angle vs d
 
5 7.271 • Generally slopes of
10 3.608 real surfaces are lesser
20 1.748 than 10° (i.e. > 80°),
30 1.102 therefore d  0.1.
40 0.758
50 0.534
60 0.367 • Conclusion: Total  ,
70 0.231 should not exceed 0.3.
80 0.112
85 0.055
 ADHESION

Carbon Graphite and Stainless Steel

 Adhesive Friction
Bowden & Tabor Theory

• Two surfaces are pressed together under load W.

• Material deforms until area of contact (A) is sufficient to
support load W. A = W/H.
• To move the surface sideway, must overcome shear strength of
junctions with force Fa Fa = A s

Fa s Observation: Shear strength (s) and Hardness (H)

a   of soft material decides the value of . This means
W H whatever properties of the other harder pairing
material,  would not change.
 Theory of ADHESIVE Friction ……
s
 Formost of untreated 
materials H = 3y & s = H
y /1.7321 (sqrt 3)
 Expected value of  =.2 Assumption: Plastic
yield pressure is
equivalent to hardness
• Theory is unable to
estimate different  for
steel on indium and
steel on lead alloy.
• Theory related to
deformation needs to
be explored.
 60
Friction needs to
Friciton Force (N)

50
40
be characterized
30
20
by the birth and
10 death of the
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
contact patches.
Applied Force (N)
Modified Bowden & Tabor Theory --- Junction
Growth

W F

W
W

Fig: Two contacting surfaces

2 σx  0
σx  σy  σx  σy  σ y  W A
σ1,2  
  
  τ xy
2

2  2   xy  F A
 2
δW  δW 
δA σ 1      δ F 2
1
2  2 
w here σ 1 is first principal stress, and
δ A is elemental area
2
δW  δW 
δA σ 2      δ F 2
2
2  2 
where σ 2 is second principal stress
2
 δW 
δA σ1  σ2   2    δF
2

 2 
 Junction Growth
If yield strength of material is σ y  σ1  σ 2
and Shear strength τ y  0.5σ y

2
 δW 
δA. τ y     δF 2
F =f (A) ????
 2 
Constant
Friction increases area of contact

Area of contact will increase with increasing

friction force, till force reaches its limiting value.
Assume i is shear stress of fractured interface.
 Limiting Junction Growth
2
Flimiting  τ i A max  δW 
δA. τ y     δF
2

 2 
Flimiting
μ 2

 A max τ y 
W
    A max τ i 
2 2
W
 2 
τ i A max 1 0.005
μ 10 0.050
2 ( τ y2  τ i2 )A max
2
Generally interface 20 0.102
τi 0.5 of pure metals 30 0.157
μ  surface is 5-10% 40 0.218
2 ( τ y  τi )
2 2
 τy 
2
weaker than bulk 50 0.289
   1 metal. 60 0.375
τ
 i 70 0.490
Observation: Ratio of shear strengths 80 0.667
decides  90 1.032
99 3.509
 Force of friction is required to shear the interface
(lubricant film, boundary between lubricant film and
surface, or boundary between both contact surfaces).
Example
 Determine coefficient of friction between
SMOOTH surfaces of aluminum and steel
metals under dry, oily and solid-lubricated
conditions. Assume shear strength of steel
as 300 MPa, and shear strength of
aluminum as 100 MPa. Interface shear
strength of 2MPa, 150 kPa and 50 kPa has
been observed for dry, solid-lubricated,
and oil lubricated conditions, respectively.
0.5
μ 50
0.01
2
 τy  667 0.00075
   1 2000 0.00025
 τi 
 How to reduce Junction Growth
 Contamination: A few molecules thick oxide layer
(encountered with metals in air) on the surface can reduce
the friction (i.e.  = 0.1 to 0.3).

Note : Rough surface (Rq > 0.2 m) may damage protective layers.
 Lubricant: Thin film reduces chances of junction.
 Ductility: Materials of limited ductility. The materials after
little junction growth will fracture rather than flow further.
 Friction instability caused by corroded gray iron discs
as removed oxide particles partially get transferred to
the surface of the brake friction material and increase
static friction coefficient & intensify the amplitude of
Owing to high thermal stick-slip.
conductivity, reasonable
The oxide particlesfriction
assistedcoefficient (0.4-
the formation of
0.45), wear resistance the
andcontact
relatively low cost, gray cast iron is used
plateaus.
for automotive brake discs. However, the corrosion behavior of cast
iron forms an oxide layer on the disc surface that leads to corrosion-
induced friction instability (brake judder).
Kinetic friction coefficient for a disc brake
system might average 0.25/0.38 for a series of
controlled experiments. However, considering
the comfort of the vehicle’s passengers, it is
important to note the stability of the friction
coefficient over a range of contact conditions.
Possible situations
 Weak(ductile) metal,
High
weak oxide
 Film easily broken, rapid
junction growth, and high .
Example Indium, gold
 Weak metal, strong oxide Low
 Transition from low to high
 as load increases.
Examples: Copper
 Strong metal, strong
oxide
 Low  at all loads.
Examples: Strong steel,
Chromium
 Friction vs Time
 Sliding in dry contact starts with running-in
period.
 Highrate of ploughing of softer surface by
asperities.
 Relatively low adhesion.
 Rupture/breakage of asperities polish surface:
 reduces ploughing coefficient but increases coefficient of
adhesion.
 On removal of contaminating layers, adhesion coefficient
increases.
Rolling Friction
 Coefficientof friction due to rolling (r) is generally
smaller than that caused by sliding action.  Rolling
friction compared to sliding friction is desirable.
 r is defined as the force required to maintain steady
rolling, divided by the load carried by the roller.
 Rolling friction coefficients often depend on hardness
of contacting solids. On increasing hardness elastic
deformation under load decreases. Therefore,
hysteresis loss and so the value of r decrease.
 For hard smooth hard steel rollers, the coefficient of rolling
friction ranges between 0.01 and 0.001.
 a roller or sphere made of soft material when rolled over
other soft surface, generates a higher level of rolling friction.

Mirco slip; Elastic (rigid ??) hysteresis;

plastic deformation; Adhesion
 Rolling Friction
 Rolling friction is associated with deformation of the
rolling soft-object or soft-surface.
 Perfectly elastic, No loss of energy
 Dissipate energy (internal friction
/hysteresis)

 When a hard object rolls on a hard surface, surface

roughness is also a significant factor.
 Abrasion/ploughing

 Coefficient of rolling friction for a steel bearing balls having a very smooth, mirror
finish, and high hardness can be as small as 0.0001. Very sensitive about the
surface roughness
 Measurement
Track

Motion
sensor

 Oscillations
of steel balls on a large concave lens.
 Assumption: Ball rolls without sliding. 1-D motion.
 Measurement
 Translational Kt and rotational Kr (with respect of the
center of mass) kinetic energies:
K=𝐾 𝐾 𝑚𝑉 𝐼𝜔 𝑚𝑉 𝑚𝑟 𝜔
K = 𝑚𝑉 ;
W= 𝜇 𝑚𝑔𝑆
7 𝑉 𝑉
𝜇
10 𝑔𝑆

 We can choose initial time (for example ti =1 s) and final time (tf
when ball stops). In the present case tf =33 s (Vf =0). With this
data Vi = 0.33 m/s and S = 3.8 m. Rolling coefficient of friction
0.002045
 Example of Rolling Friction

 Ball bearings:
 Material: Hard steel
 Stresses: Within elastic limits (not high enough to produce
plastic flow of the balls).
 Losses: Hysteresis losses ( 1 percent)  Low rolling
resistance (µ≅0.001).
 In practice the balls must be surrounded by it cage
to separate them and prevent the rubbing on one
another. But sliding between the cage and balls
occurs, and this sliding friction is often far greater
than the rolling friction.
 Lubricants are used to reduce the sliding friction between
balls and cage and to prevent corrosion of the metal parts.
 Automobile Tires
 In free rolling the tire is deformed as it meets the road surface and
recovers as it leaves. If there is negligible slip between tire and road
the energy loss is not large and  = 0.01 to 0.03. However, If the tire is
made of a rubber with a higher hysteresis loss (or filled with lesser air-
pressure), the rolling friction is larger and there is a larger power loss.
 High hysteresis loss by tire, increases controllability (better gripping of
the road during accelerating, decelerating or cornering) and comfort
(acts as shock absorber in passing over rough road ).
 Can lubrication reduce rolling friction?
Friction Induced Vibrations (Instability)
Difference between
static and kinetic friction 80
coefficients, initiates a 70
“stick-slip” process. 60 00 amp
50 .2amp
Instantaneous sliding

to rq u e
40 .4 amp
speed of an object 30 .6amp
due to stick slip 20
causes: 10
• Vibration- Shock 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
• Braking noise.
speed
 Forced motion
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝐹 0

Unbalance force (static – kinetic

friction force) causes a sudden
acceleration. The velocity of M
increases until the driving force
falls to kinetic friction force.
Eventually M comes to rest.

Overall stick-slip behavior of systems depends on inertia,

stiffness, damping and magnitude of unbalance force.
In absence of any external force (Free
Damped vibration)
d2 x dx Damping (viscous, hysteresis) signifies loss
M 2 C  Kx  0 of energy
dt dt
C K d2 x dx
  ; n   2
 2 ζ ω n  ω nx  0
2

2 MK M dt dt

Case I : Underdampe d, ζ  1

x  Ae  ζωn t Sin ωn t 1 ζ 2  φ   
Case II : Overdamped , ζ  1
  ζ  ζ 1 ω t
2   ζ  ζ 1 ω t
2

x  A 1e  A 2e
n n
 

Case III : Critical damped, ζ  1

?<0
x  A 1  A 2 t e  ζωn t
 Positive damping

20
Displacement vs time
Negative damping
10

0
displacement

-10

-20

-30

-40
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time
 Friction force can be modeled in two ways,
(a) Stiction case and
(b) Negative gradient case

dx
2 F t F λ
d x dx dt
M 2 f  kx  F(t)
dt dt
Forced damped vibrations
2
d x dx
M 2 C  Kx  F (t )
dt dt
In the present case external force, Ft , is friction force.
2 Negative
d x dx
M 2 f  kx  F(t) sign
dt dt

Let us assume friction force is represente d as

dx
Ft   Fs  λ
dt
 Negative gradient case
d2 x dx  dx 
M 2 C  Kx   Fs  λ 
dt dt  dt 

d2 x dx
Rearranging M 2  C  λ   Kx  Fs
dt dt

If system damping, C, is low and  is large then

overall negative damping results, and motion may
become instable.

  
x  Ae  ζωn t Sin ωn t 1 ζ 2  φ 
 Friction instability
.8
.6
.4
.2

0
displacement

-.2
-.4
Ferrous wear particles transferred from
-.6 Gray iron brake discs to the friction
-.8
material surface during brake applications,
-1
-1.2 affect the friction instability. The friction-
-1.4 induced noise and vibrations are frequently
-1.6
0 2 4 6 8 10 observed
12 14 due
16 to18increased
20 stick slip caused
time by increased static coefficient of friction
owing to produced and compacted oxides.

Better control on friction. Increase system damping.

Brake squeal  high frequency noise (1-12 kHz). No affect
on performance but detrimental to comfort.

Grooves on brake disk decrease noise

 Problem: Brake disk interacts
with brake pad during
vehicle braking. This
interaction produces
intensive noise.
 Solution: Making annular
grooves on the surface of
brake disk reduces noise
volume.
U.S. Patent, 5474161; Dec. 12, 1995, “Rotor for a disk brake assembly and method
of making same”, Ford Motor Company.
 Polymer coating dampens
noise
 Problem: Brake disk
interacts with brake pad
during vehicle braking.
This interaction produces
intensive noise.
 Solution: Coating brake
pad with polymer
reduces the noise level
during vehicle braking.

U.S. Patent, 5622785; April 22, 1997, “Coating for a brake pad, a method of
reducing brake pad noise, and a brake pad”, Performance Friction Corporation
 1/19/2023

Ex 3: During braking a brake pad is

pressed against a disk and stops its
rotation due to friction. As a result,
the brake pad and disk are heated,
and braking becomes comparatively
hard.

Solution : Thermal field:

Passages through which a
cooling liquid can be
circulated.
 MRF Brake

91

81

71 200 RPM
1200 RPM
Amplification factor

61

51

41

31

21

11

1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Current, A
 Economic Benefits
 WhyTRIBOLOGY: Saving by reducing energy loss
due to friction, loss due to breakdowns, reducing
depreciation of machinery,
 Jost Report (1966) saving of about £515M/year by
implementing TRIBOLOGY in UK industry.

50 Years ago, major

concern was wear-
related failures.
However, calculated
contribution to cost
reduction is ~74%
due to friction
reduction and to
26% from improved
wear protection
mechanisms.
 Economic Benefits
 Enormous maintenance cost is due to energy loss and
equipment wear, for which friction and wear phenomena
are responsible.
 Reliable, durable, and smooth operation of engines, gear
boxes, drive trains, etc. is highly dependent on how well
friction and wear are controlled.
 Development of several systems (i.e. I.C. engines,
turbomachinery, gears, cam-followers, bearings, seals)
have been made to reduce wear and friction to enhance
service life and reduce loss of energy/materials.
 Friction reduction at cylinder bore/piston contact, valvetrain,
and bearings through deposition of low friction coatings,
improved surface finish, surface modifications, and low
friction engine oil.
 New Development
 Energysavings in transportation (35%), in the power
generation (30%), in the manufacturing (25).
 Better understanding of surface roughness and hardness,
Adoption of new surfaces, materials, lubrication
technologies for friction reduction and wear protection in
vehicles, machinery and other equipment worldwide.
 Careful selection of materials for bearings, drives, sliding
seals, etc. considering tribo-system having three material
surfaces.
 Measuring friction phenomena while the process is ongoing
is a major improvement over earlier techniques.
 Initial collection of data to have a feel for the magnitude of
friction coefficients and wear rates, and an idea of how
these relate to material class.
Tribology has remained as a data- Bearing Selection
driven approach. ‘Big data’/data-
centric Method

Tribology Data Handbook: An Excellent

Friction, Lubrication, and Wear
Resource
By E. Richard Booser
Self Lubricated bearings
(d< 50 mm; N < 3000 rpm, W<1000 N)

Self lubrication is characterized by the bearings

ability to transfer microscopic amounts of material
to the mating surface. This transfer process creates
a film that provides lubrication and reduces friction
over the length of shaft.
 less maintenance; Dirty and high-heat environments;
excessive friction; Lightweight
 Dry Bearings
• PV factor: Limiting ‘PV’ above which wear
increases rapidly either because of thermal
effects or of stresses approaching to elastic
limit.
• When surfaces slide, they wear. The wear-
rate is defined as:
 Volume of wear = specific wear rate* Applied
load* distance of sliding
Limit
v  kWd  h  kPVt due to
temp
 Energy Dissipation rise

 Area for heat flow path A = project area = LD

Friction force F= W. Power Loss = FV
Energy Dissipation per unit area = WV/A => PV

EX: Estimate wear of 10mm long Nylon bushing

supporting a 10-mm, 5 kg shaft running at 900 rpm.
𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝 0.5 ∗ 𝜇 ∗ 𝑊 ∗ 𝑉

Future prediction?

v  kWd
v  kW V t
v  k W V

Material Max Temp, C PV (MN/(m.sec) P (MPa) V (m/sec)

Nylon 90 0.9 5 3
 Additional Factors
Material Wear factor k, 10-15 m2/N 
No Filler Filler No Filler Filler
Nylon 4 0.24 0.61 0.18
PTFE 400 0.14 0.05 0.09
Polycarbonate 50 3.6 0.38 0.22
Polyurethane 6.8 3.6 0.37 0.34

15
v  k W V  4 10  5  9.81 0.47
3
14 m
v  9.22  10 After 1000 operating
hours
s
07
v  3.32  10 m 3
 07
v  3.32  10 m 3

For uniform wear over circumference

h
3.32  10 07
 10 mm

09
1
3

3.14 *10  10 mm 2

Material Wear factor k, 10-15 m2/N 

No Filler Filler No Filler Filler
Nylon 4 0.24 6% 0.61 0.18
PTFE 400 0.14 0.035% 0.05 0.09

Tribo-system cannot be analysed without consideration of

its service life and dynamic variation in its geometry.
 Economic Benefits
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• If 50% of this cost needs to be invested in unsuccessful trials and
fruitless hypotheses, still INDIA will gain from practicing tribology.

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 Experiments
 Pin on Disc Tribometer
 Lubricity tester
 Rheometer
 Four ball Tribometer
 Gear test rig
 Sonicator
 Corrosion test
 Coating technology
 Fault simulator
 Abrasive wear test
 Raman Spectroscopy (Non-destructive test)
 Air bearing rig
 Surface roughness profilometer
 Hardness measurement
 Hertzian contact apparatus
 Requirements
Use of tabulated friction coefficients to solve mechanical design
or failure analysis problems by ignoring the systems-dependence
of frictional behaviour must be avoided.

– Breakthroughs in tribology are needed:

– Low viscosity and intelligent lubricants
– Incorporating ‘on‐demand’ nano-additive
– Self-healing ultrathin tribofilms,
– Advanced sensors, actuators, and Nanomaterials.
– Role of sensors related to friction in implementing in various
tribology-related industries and equipment.
– Cyber Physical Systems.
– High temperature bearing lubricants,
– Reliable wind turbine drive trains,
– Development of 2D materials like h-BN, MoS2, graphene, etc.
 Machine Learning
ML is data-driven analysis. Model can learn from newly
acquired data, refine itself (Reinforcement learning) to find
correct answer and make decisions (can automate decision
making) without extended programming and human
intervention.

ML can be divided into supervised (classification/pattern-

recognition: type of surface finish, oil grade, lubricant additive, etc. or
regression methods: continuous variables such as coefficient of
friction, film thickness, temperature rise, etc.) learning and
unsupervised learning.
In descriptive or unsupervised learning, the goal is to find
meaningful patterns and groups (self organized) of similar
features within the dataset (clustering), or to reduce high-
dimensional data space to two or three dimensions for
visualization purposes (dimensionality reduction).
Failure diagnosis/simulation Machine Learning
Resource efficiency, energy efficiency, renewable resources, waste
reduction, and longevity can be achieved using tribological knowledge.
About 70 percent of equipment failures is blamed on Tribological
failure.
• Number of variables (i.e. contact size, pressure, tensile stress,
friction force, lubricant properties) affecting tribo-performance are
many. To predict the residual life, very sophisticated model and
significant number of experimental results are needed.
• Machine learning makes us curious to decide which aspect to be
included and which aspect to be drop using supervised learning
algorithms.
• It integrates acquired data with computational methods.
• Machine learning concepts help to characterize surface
topography and design the Tribological system.
• It allow to adopt “Model Based System Engineering” approach.
 Model Based System Engineering
The behaviour of tribological system can be described by
connecting several specific models.
Allows engineers to better understand (creative
action) the inter-dependability of various subsystems &
parts.

Improves product quality as the implementation of existing

models provides advantages of consistency & traceability
of information throughout a development project.
LEARNING: Use of the right model in the right place
at the right time.
New consideration: Not only to reduce friction & wear but
also to account type of lubricants and coating material to be
used.
Model Based System Engineering…

Modelica software: Open source software

Model can be used for numerous examples: journal

bearings, piston–bore interface, gears, roller bearings, etc.
 Digital Twin
• Cyber physical system: Physical system is modelled in a digital
environment to simulate real machine behaviour. Data from various
sensors are gathered, processed and synchronized with digital
models and simulated.
• Requires continuous monitoring, controlling & optimisation of
equipment performance, product development and manufacturing.
• Improves service management throughout product life cycle including
design, manufacturing, transportation & after sale service.
• Digital representation of a physical entity that is updated in real-
time by transfer of data between physical and digital (virtual)
entities.
• Required knowledge: data acquisition and its analysis, knowledge
management to estimate RUL, and proactive approach.
 Examples

Inside a disk drive, a slider with read/write recording head

flies over a rotating disk. Reduction in spacing between
head sensor & magnetic medium by implementing
tribological guidelines, increases the areal density and
more data can be stored in relatively smaller space.
 Examples

Lubricant between cylinder liner and rings

Combustion
Cylinder liner Approximately
space
Direction of piston motions

15% energy is
lost through
Piston Lubricant friction due to
rings injection
holes motion of
pistons, valve
trains, bearings
Piston
etc.

Piston rod