Submitted by:

Payal Sharma
PhD Scholar
(Part Time)
Mechanical and Automation Engineering Dept.
 Contents
• Introduction to tribology
• History
• Role of surface roughness/Elastic deformation
• Economic benefits of tribology
• Friction
• Adhesion theory
• Junction growth theory
• Laws of rolling friction
• Friction instability
 Introduction
• Greek word “Tribos” means rubbing.

• Tribology is a science that deals with friction, lubrication and

wear in all contacting pairs.

• Tribological knowledge helps to

 Improve service life
 Safety and reliability of interacting machine components
 Yields substantial economic benefits.
• Focus of tribology: Interactions between
bodies in contact.
 Definitions
• Dictionaries define tribology as the science and technology of
interacting surfaces in relative motion and of related subjects
and practices.

• Tribology is the art of applying operational analysis to

problems of great economic significance, namely, reliability,
maintenance, and wear of technical equipment, ranging from
spacecraft to household appliances.
 Understanding tribology requires knowledge of various
disciplines, including
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Applied mathematics
• Solid mechanics
• Fluid mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Heat transfer
• Materials science
• Rheology
• Lubrication
• Machine design, performance, and reliability
 Industrial Significance of Tribology
• Tribology is crucial to modern machinery which uses sliding
and rolling surfaces.

• Examples of productive friction are brakes, clutches, driving

wheels on trains and automobiles, bolts, and nuts.
 Industrial Significance of Tribology
• Examples of productive wear are writing with a pencil,
machining, polishing, and shaving.

• Examples of unproductive friction and wear are internal

combustion and aircraft engines, gears, cams, bearings, and
seals.
• According to some estimates, losses resulting from
ignorance of tribology amount in the United States to about
4% of its gross national product (or about $200 billion dollars
per year in 1966), and approximately one-third of the world’s
energy resources in present use appear as friction in one form
or another.
• The importance of friction reduction and wear control cannot
be overemphasized for economic reasons and long-term
reliability.
 Research in Tribology
• The purpose of research in tribology is understandably the
minimization and elimination of losses resulting from friction
and wear at all levels of technology where the rubbing of
surfaces is involved.

• Research in tribology leads to greater plant efficiency, better

performance, fewer breakdowns, and significant savings.

• Tribology has been important in numerous industrial

applications requiring relative motion, for example, railroads,
automobiles, aircraft, and the manufacturing process of
machine components.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• Writing is a tribological process.
• Writing is accomplished by the controlled transfer of lead
(pencil) or ink (pen) to the paper.
• During writing with a pencil there should be good adhesion
between the lead and the paper so that a small quantity of lead
transfers to the paper and the lead should have adequate
toughness/hardness so that it does not fracture/break.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• The objective when shaving is to remove hair from the body
as efficiently as possible with minimum discomfort to the skin.
Shaving cream is used as a lubricant to minimize friction
between the razor and the skin.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life

• Friction is helpful during walking and driving. Without

adequate friction, we would slip and a car would skid.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• Tribology is also important in sports.
• For example, a low friction between the skis and the ice is
desirable during skiing. Fabric fibers should have low friction
when touching human skin.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• Body joints need to be lubricated for low friction and low
wear to avoid osteoarthritis and joint replacement.
• The surface layer of cartilage present in the joint provides the
bearing surface and is lubricated with a joint fluid consisting
of lubricin, hyaluronic acid (HA) and lipid.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• Hair conditioner coats hair in order to repair hair damage and
lubricate it.
• It contains silicone and fatty alcohols. Low friction and
adhesion provide a smooth feel in wet and dry environments,
reduce friction between hair fibers during shaking and
bouncing, and provide easy combing and styling.
 Tribology in our day-to-day life
• Skin creams and lotions are used to reduce friction between
the fingers and body skin.

• Saliva and other mucous biofluids lubricate and facilitate the

transport of food and soft liquids through the body. The saliva
in the mouth interacts with food and influences the taste–
mouth feel.
Significance of Micro/ Nanotribology
• This field is concerned with experimental and theoretical
investigations of processes ranging from atomic and molecular
scales to microscales, occurring during adhesion, friction,
wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces.
• In macrotribology, tests are conducted on components with
relatively large mass under heavily loaded conditions. In these
tests, wear is inevitable and the bulk properties of mating
components dominate the tribological performance.
• In micro/nanotribology, measurements are made on
components, at least one of the mating components, with
relatively small mass under lightly loaded conditions. In this
situation, negligible wear occurs and the surface properties
dominate the tribological performance.
Significance of Micro/ Nanotribology
• Develop a fundamental understanding of interfacial
phenomena on a small scale and to study interfacial
phenomena in micro and nano structures used in magnetic
storage systems, micro/nanoelectromechanical systems
(MEMS/NEMS), and other industrial applications.
• The components used in micro- and nano structures are very
light (of the order of few micrograms) and operate under very
light loads (of the order of a few micrograms to a few
milligrams).
• Friction and wear (on a nanoscale) of lightly-loaded
micro/nano components are highly dependent on the surface
interactions (few atomic layers).
 History of Tribology

History
• The word tribology was first reported in a landmark report by
Jost (1966).
• Earlier the word “Tribology” has been used for:
 Basic mechanisms governing interfacial behavior
 Basic theories quantifying interfacial mechanisms
 Solutions to friction and wear problems

Major breakthrough:
• 1981- Development of Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)
• 1985- Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
 History of Tribology

• It is only the name tribology that is relatively new, because

interest in the constituent parts of tribology is older than
recorded history.

Examples:
• Records show the use of wheels from 3500 BC, which
illustrates our ancestors concern with reducing friction in
translationary motion.
• A tomb in Egypt that was dated several thousand years BC
provides the evidence of use of lubricants. A chariot in this
tomb still contained some of the original animal-fat lubricant
in its wheel bearings.
• The Renaissance engineer-artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452–
1519), first postulated a scientific approach to friction.
 History of Tribology

• Da Vinci deduced the rules governing the motion of a

rectangular block sliding over a flat surface.

• He introduced the concept of the coefficient of friction as the

ratio of the friction force to normal load.

• His work had no historical influence, however, because his

notebooks remained unpublished for hundreds of years.

• In 1699, the French physicist Guillaume Amontons

rediscovered the rules of friction after he studied dry sliding
between two flat surfaces
 History of Tribology

• Egyptians using lubricant to aid movement of colossus, El-

Bersheh, circa 1880 BC: Pictorial records show how greased
skids were already being used to transport an Egyptian statue
to the grave.
 History of Tribology

• From these pictorial records, one can certainly assume

that the Sumerians and Egyptians used “lubricants”
(bitumen, animal and vegetable oils, water) to reduce
friction.

• There are numerous examples of this:

• Simple bearings for kindling fire and for drilling holes with
rotary motion
• Pottery wheels with wood and stone bearings
• Axle bearings with leather loops for rolling vehicles and
wheeled vehicles
• Use of lubricants such as oil, grease and water
• Building sledges for transporting heavy stones
 History of Tribology

• Though essential laws of viscous flow were postulated by Sir

Isaac Newton in 1668, scientific understanding of lubricated
bearing operations did not occur until the end of the nineteenth
century.

• Wear is a much younger subject than friction and bearing

development, and it was initiated on a largely empirical basis.

• Scientific studies of wear scarcely developed until the mid

twentieth century. Ragnar Holm made one of the earliest
substantial contributions to the study of wear
 Interdisciplinary Approach and
economic benefits
• Energy being an important aspect in today’s world plays an
important role in deciding the GDP of an industrialized nation.
• The wide spread involvement of friction and wear accounts for
maximum energy losses.
• Due to this the focus of researchers has been shifted towards
different aspects of tribology.
 Interdisciplinary Approach
• Apart from Solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, material
science and chemistry, the different sectors where
tribology plays an important role are:

 Automotive tribology
 Bio tribology
• Oral Tribology
• Ocular Tribology
• Synovial joints and artificial replacements
• Cardiovascular Tribology
 Ocean tribology
 Green tribology
 Manufacturing tribology
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Automotive tribology
• Better engine oils can reduce both the friction and wear in the
automobiles.

• The various tribological parts in automobile vehicles include

engines, transmissions, traction drive, drive train and ancillaries.

• The most important component where most of the fuel energy is lost
in automobiles is engine.

• The tribological solution for the engine is the evolution of better

lubricants and lubrication system.

• The tribological study of the parts of the automobile will help in

developing suitable components for the automobile.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Bio tribology
• The bearing surfaces of humans undergoes wear and cause
discomfort to them.

• The various applications of tribology in human systems

include:
a) Oral tribology
b) Ocular tribology
c) Natural synovial joints and artificial replacements
d) Cardiovascular tribology
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Oral Tribology
• It involves the study of wear of dentures.

• As a person grows older, he is in possible need for partial and

complete dentures.

• In order to develop durable dentures, we must have knowledge

of the wear of teeth and effect of materials on the teeth.

• The study of oral tribology deals with the study of the

mechanisms of how this wear occurs and how it can be
controlled.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Ocular Tribology
• It deals with the lubrication of contact lens.

• There is continuous movement of eyelids over the cornea which

leads to the wear of the contact lens.

• In order to prevent the wear we need to have a proper lubrication

in the eyes.

• The wear under study will helps us to make better contact lens and
provide relief to the human beings.

• This measurement of frictional forces helps in the making of better

contact lens
 Interdisciplinary Approach
Synovial joints and artificial
replacements
• Synovial joints are the movable joints and a synovial fluid is
present in between the joints which acts as a lubricant and
reduces the wear and friction of synovial joints.
• The natural synovial joints exhibit very low coefficient of
friction and the study of these natural synovial joints can help in
the treatment of Osteoarthritis.
• The study of synovial joints can also help us in the making of
artificial human joints.
• The natural human joints can get worn out or it may be harmful
for the person due to some disease.
• The tribological study of the joints will help us in choosing the
right material for artificial joints.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Cardiovascular Tribology
• Artificial heart valves are implanted in the patients who have
damaged their heart valves.

• Bio tribology has also played an important role in ventricular

assisting devices (VAD).

• Ventricular assisting devices are required when there is a

failure of heart chambers.
 Interdisciplinary Approach
Ocean tribology
• It involves the investigation of friction and wear in the sea water
environment.

• The sea water is very corrosive in nature resulting in the increase

of surface roughness of the mechanical parts of machines.

• A decrease in the lubrication effect is also observed that leads to

increase in the coefficient of friction and energy consumption to
drive the parts.

• There also occurs an increase in the wear of the drive parts and
parts fail more quickly than their expected time.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Green tribology
• Green tribology is a that subdivision of tribology whose main
is aim is to preserve the environment.

• It involves the study of friction of friction and wear of

materials in such a way that it reduces the contamination of the
environment and conserves the energy.

• The various applications of green tribology include

automobiles, bio tribology, renewable energy tribology and a
section of geo tribology

• In biomimetic tribology, the biomimetic materials, surfaces are

chosen in way so that they are more ecofriendly.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Manufacturing tribology
• It includes the study of the metal working fluids (MWF)
employed in the machining operations.

• The MWF’s are used in various machining operations: turning,

milling, grinding and drilling.

• Most of the current MWF’s used are mineral oils because of

their better cooling and lubricating properties. These also
increase the productivity of manufacturing system.
 Interdisciplinary Approach

Polymeric Composites in
Tribological Applications
• New technologies and materials are developing and under
investigation for different fields of applications, requiring an
evaluation of their properties in particular conditions.

• The tribology of polymers with macro and nano particles is an

important and actual research subject due to these particles
capacity for modifying composites properties.

• Adding materials as fibers and powders substantially improve

the mechanical and tribological properties.
 Economic Aspects
• Frictional and energy losses in heavy- duty vehicles-With
proper tribological approach, reduced frictional losses in
machineries can result in lower energy or fuel consumption,
which in turns resulted in lower operational/maintenance cost
and fewer harmful gases emissions to the environment.
• The fuel efficiency and performance of the vehicles can be
improved and more money can be saved.

• Frictional and energy losses in transportation,

manufacturing, power generation and residential sector
 Economic Aspects
• The maintenance costs are in direct relation to the costs of
wear parts and hence by reducing maintenance cost, economy
can be achieved in major sectors like:
• Industries
• Transportation
• Energy Industry
• Residential and services

• By applying tribological solutions in these major fields,

potential savings can be made.
 Economic Benefits of Tribology
• Reducing energy loss due to friction

• Loss due to breakdowns

• Reducing depreciation of machinery.

• Ex: I.C. engines, turbomachinery, gears, cam-followers,

bearings, seals
 Surface Roughness

The Nature of Surfaces

• Surface interactions in a tribological interface are highly
complex.
• A solid surface, or more exactly a solid–gas or solid–liquid
interface, has a complex structure and complex properties
dependent upon the nature of solids, the method of surface
preparation, and the interaction between the surface and the
environment.
• Properties of solid surfaces are crucial to surface interaction
because surface properties affect real area of contact, friction,
wear, and lubrication.
• In addition to tribological functions, surface properties are
important in other applications, such as optical, electrical and
thermal performance, painting, and appearance.
 Surface Roughness

The Nature of Surfaces

• Solid surfaces, irrespective of the method of formation,
contain irregularities or deviations from the prescribed
geometrical form.
• No machining method, however precise, can produce a
molecularly flat surface on conventional materials.
• Even the smoothest surfaces, such as those obtained by
cleavage of some crystals, contain irregularities the heights of
which exceed the interatomic distances.
• For technological applications, both macro- and
micro/nanotopography of the surfaces (surface texture) are
important.
Surface Roughness
 Surface Roughness
Methods of Characterization of
Surface Layers
• Examining the cross section by a high-magnification optical
microscope or a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
• transmission electron microscope (TEM)
• X-ray, high-energy or low-energy electron diffraction
techniques.
• X-ray energy dispersive analyzer (X-REDA).
• Auger electron spectroscope (AES).
• Electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA).
• Ion scattering spectrometer (ISS).
• Rutherford backscattering spectrometer (RBS).
 Surface Roughness
Methods of Characterization of
Surface Layers
• X-ray fluorescence (XRF).
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion
mass spectrometry (SIMS).
• Mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR).
• Raman scattering.
• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
• Ellipsometry.
 Surface Roughness

Surface Roughness
• Surface texture is the repetitive or random deviation from the
nominal surface that forms the three-dimensional topography
of the surface.

• Surface texture includes:

(1) roughness (nano and microroughness)
(2) waviness (macroroughness)
(3) lay
(4) flaws
 Surface Roughness

Nano- and microroughness

• Nano- and microroughness are formed by fluctuations in the
surface of short wavelengths, characterized by hills (asperities)
(local maxima) and valleys (local minima) of varying
amplitudes and spacings, and these are large compared to
molecular dimensions.
• Nano- and microroughness include those features intrinsic to
the production process. These are considered to include
traverse feed marks and other irregularities within the limits of
the roughness sampling length.
• Asperities are referred to as peaks in a profile (two
dimensions) and summits in a surface map (three dimensions).
 Surface Roughness

Macroroughness/Waviness
• Waviness is the surface irregularity of longer wavelengths and
is referred to as macroroughness.

• Waviness may result from such factors as machine or

workpiece deflections, vibration, chatter, heat treatment, or
warping strains.

• Waviness includes all irregularities whose spacing is greater

than the roughness sampling length and less than the waviness
sampling length.
 Surface Roughness

Lay
• Lay is the principal direction of the predominant surface
pattern, ordinarily determined by the production method.
 Surface Roughness

Flaws
• Flaws are unintentional, unexpected, and unwanted
interruptions in the texture.

• In addition, the surface may contain gross deviations from

nominal shape of very long wavelength, which is known as
error of form. They are not normally considered part of the
surface texture.
 Surface Roughness
Pictorial display of surface texture
 Surface Roughness

Pictorial display of surface texture

 Surface Roughness

General typology of surfaces

 Surface Roughness

General typology of surfaces

• The textures of most engineering surfaces are random, either

isotropic or anisotropic, and either Gaussian or non-Gaussian.

• Whether the surface height distribution is isotropic or

anisotropic and Gaussian or non-Gaussian depends upon the
nature of the processing method.
 Surface Roughness

Surface roughness
• Surface roughness most commonly refers to the variations in
the height of the surface relative to a reference plane.
• It is measured either along a single line profile or along a set of
parallel line profiles (surface maps).
 Surface Roughness

• Surface roughness is defined by short wavelength vertical

deviations from nominal surface.
• Larger the deviations, rougher the surface.
 Surface Roughness

• Surface roughness is usually characterized by one of the two

statistical height descriptors advocated by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International
Standardization Organization (ISO).

These are :
• (1) CLA(center-line average), or AA (arithmetic average)
• (2) Standard deviation or variance(σ), Rq or root mean
square (RMS).

• Two other statistical height descriptors are skewness (Sk) and

kurtosis (K); these are rarely used.
 Surface Roughness

• We consider a profile, z(x) in which profile heights are

measured from a reference line.
• we define a center line or mean line as the line such that the
area between the profile and the mean line above the line is
equal to that below the mean line.
• Ra, CLA or AA is the arithmetic mean of the absolute values
of vertical deviation from the mean line through the profile.
• The standard deviation σ is the square root of the arithmetic
mean of the square of the vertical deviation from the mean
line. Then, In mathematical form,
 Surface Roughness

• where L is the sampling length of the profile (profile length).

• The variance is given as:

• where σ is the standard deviation and Rq is the square root of

the arithmetic mean of the
• square of the vertical deviation from a reference line, or
 Surface Roughness

• The skewness and kurtosis in the normalized form are given

as:
 Surface Roughness
Various surface profiles having the
same Ra value
 Surface Roughness

• Average roughness(Ra)
• Root mean square roughness(Rq)
• Z = Variation of surface from mean line
• N = Total number of points in sampling length (L)
 Surface Roughness

Role of surface roughness

• Failure rate of any tribo pair (two machine components in
relative sliding motion) depends on the surface roughness of
machine components.
 Surface Roughness

Role of elastic deformation

• As elastically deformed substance fills the irregular surfaces
and provides smooth ride.
 Friction

Friction
• Friction: Tangential resistance to motion.

• Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid

surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against
each other.

• Generally, adhesion increases the friction.

• While selecting metal pairs, low adhesion metal pairs must be

selected to reduce friction force.
 Friction

 Da Vinci law- Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) showed that

the friction force is independent of the geometrical area of
contact.

 Amontons’ laws-

• Amontons' first law: The frictional force is independent of

the geometrical contact area.

• Amontons' second law: Friction, FS, is proportional to the

normal force, FN:

FS  FN
 Friction

• There are several types of friction:

• Dry friction

• Fluid friction

• Lubricated friction

• Skin friction

• Internal friction
 Friction
• Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion
of two solid surfaces in contact.

• Dry friction is subdivided into static friction between non-

moving surfaces, and kinetic friction between moving
surfaces.

• Static Friction: The force that has to be overcome in order to

get something to move is called static friction.

• Kinetic Friction: The retarding force between two objects in

contact that are moving against each other is called kinetic
friction.
 Friction

• Fluid friction describes the friction between

layers of a viscous fluid that are moving
relative to each other.
 Friction

• Lubricated friction is a case of fluid friction

where a lubricant fluid separates two solid
surfaces.
 Friction

• Skin friction is a component of drag, the force

resisting the motion of a fluid across the
surface of a body.
 Friction

• Internal friction is the force resisting motion

between the elements making up a solid
material while it undergoes deformation.
 Friction
Adhesion Theory
• Bowden and Tabor developed theory of adhesive friction.

• As per this theory on application of W, initial contact at some

of higher asperity tips occurs.

• Due to high stress those asperities suffer plastic deformation,

which permits strong adhesive bonds among asperities.

• Such cold formed junctions are responsible for the adhesive

friction.
 Friction
Junction Growth Theory
• Bowden and Tabor proposed junction growth theory with the idea that
contact area might become much enlarged under the additional shear force.

• According to this theory, area of contact will increase with increasing

friction force, till force reaches its limiting value.

• It can be stated that on application of additional incremental tangential

force, there will be further plastic flow at constant shear stress, resulting in
an incremental contact area of A.

• Bowden and Tabor called this increase the junction growth.

• Two methods to reduce junction growth are contaminations (reducing

adhesion) and lubrication.
 Friction
Laws of Rolling Friction
• Coefficient of friction due to rolling (μr)is defined as the force
required to maintain steady rolling, divided by the load carried by
the roller.

• μr is generally smaller than that caused by sliding action.

• Rolling friction coefficients often depend on hardness of

contacting solids.

• Examples: Ball bearing

Automobile tires
 Friction
Friction Instability
• Due to large difference in the value of static and kinetic
coefficient of friction.
• Difference between static and kinetic friction coefficients,
initiates a “stick-slip” process.

• Possible reasons for stick-slip phenomenon :

a. Interlocking of asperities during stick phenomenon but
separation during sliding.
b. Adhesion during stick action and breakage of weld joint
during sliding.
c. Electrostatic charge during stick event.
 Friction
• To avoid this phenomenon either :
a. Increase operating speed or
b. Reduce the difference between μs and μk.

• Due to difference in static and dynamic friction forces,

unbalance force (static–dynamic friction force) cause a
sudden acceleration.

• Overall stick-slip behavior of systems depends on stiffness,

inertia, damping and magnitude of unbalanced force.
 Wear
• Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of
material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical
(e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion).

• Wear in machine elements, together with other processes such

as fatigue and creep, causes functional surfaces to degrade,
eventually leading to material failure or loss of functionality.
• Wear is commonly classified according to so-called wear
types, which occur in isolation or complex interaction.
Common types of wear include:

• Adhesive wear

• Abrasive wear

• Surface fatigue

• Fretting wear

• Erosive wear

• Corrosion and oxidation wear

 Adhesive wear
• Adhesive wear can be found between surfaces
during frictional contact and generally refers to unwanted
displacement and attachment of wear debris and material
compounds from one surface to another.
• In this case, shear starts in the weakest material and the
fragment of a surface is detached from one body and
transferred to another.
• Once the fragment is transferred to another surface due to high
bonding strength on the interface it may remain at the surface
and form a ‘transfer film’, or a loose wear particle may form.