Print this page Engineering Tribology
Robert P. Jackson, P.E.
Course Outline
The course attempts to follow a logical progression, moving through the following primary “blocks” of information:
- Introduction
- Benefits From Understanding Tribology
- History of Tribology
- Friction, Wear, Lubrication and Adhesion
- Types of Lubrication
- SAE Grades and API Classifications
- Engineering surfaces
- Hardness of Materials
- Bearings
- Emerging Fields of Study
- Summary
- Appendix
Please note there are subheadings that further divide the subject matter for easier study.
This course includes
a multiple choice quiz at the end,
Learning Objective
Upon completion of this course the student will have an understanding and working knowledge of the following areas relating to the science of Tribology:
- Be able to understand how surface topography and roughness contribute to friction and wear;
- Understand surface roughness and how measurements are made;
- Be given charts showing the relative coefficients of friction for materials in contact with each other;
- Understand the economics and benefits of proper lubrication and mechanical design relative to moving pairs;
- Be introduced to the correlation between surface hardness and tensile strength
- Understand surface and sub-surface stresses and what part they play relative to friction and wear;
- Recognize the laws of friction, mechanisms of friction, stick slip, and what role surface temperature plays in wear factors;
- Understand the various methods for measuring surface hardness;
- Appreciate the various modes of wear: adhesive, delamination, fretting, abrasive, erosive, corrosive, oxidation (mild and severe), melt, and the wear-mechanism maps;
- Be able to identify and use the various formulas defining static, dynamic and rolling friction;
- Identify types of lubrication: boundary, solid-film, hydrodynamic, and hydrostatic lubrication;
- Have a basic understanding of SAE grades and API classes of lubricants;
- Examine applications: sliding contacts, rolling contacts, electric contacts, and micromechanical systems;
- Understand the basic tenants of “Green Tribilogy”;
- Understand the basics of microtribology;
- Understand the history of Tribilogy and those individuals who so greatly contributed to the study; and
- Understand the role asperities play in determining friction.
In addition, we will furnish a complete glossary of terms and references for further reading.
Intended Audience
This six (6) hour course is intended for those individuals interested discovering the complexities of friction, wear, lubrication and adhesion as applied to mechanical and electo-mechanical devices. It is intended to be a refresher course for those with some distant experience in the field but having the need to “brush-up”. Tribological studies cover friction, wear, lubrication and adhesion and involve the efforts of mechanical engineers, material scientists, chemists, physicists, evaluation laboratory personnel and reliability laboratory personnel. The following professions would definitely benefit from this course if participating in areas of design and manufacturing that produce components that move relative to each other:
- Engineering Managers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Design Engineers
- Quality Engineers
- Quality Control Inspectors
- Manufacturing Engineers
- Green, Black or Master Black Belt practitioners
- Reliability Engineers
- Environmental Engineers (“Green engineering” is becoming a very viable technology.)
- Metallurgical Engineers
- Test Technicians involved with friction, wear and lubrication
- Material Scientists
- Chemists ( Lubrication technology )
Benefit to Attendees
Sliding and rolling surfaces represent a significant portion of our technological society; consequently, understanding the interaction of opposing surfaces is critical to the adequate design of machine elements. Tribology is that area of science dealing with friction, wear, lubrication and adhesion of surfaces in contact with each other and how to mitigate the adverse effects of friction and wear. The economic significance of combating friction and wear becomes apparent when we consider that losses resulting from ignorance of tribology and improper design of machine elements results in approximately six percent (6%) of our gross national product or $200 billion per year. It has been estimated that one-third of the world’s energy resources appear as friction in one form or another. Even with this being the case, the “average” university student receives only one hour in a four year curriculum dealing with the subject relative to design. The “rookie” employee, entering his or her first job, knows precious little about a subject that causes premature failure of sliding or rolling machine elements and the significant loss of product reliability.
This course is designed to give an engineer more than the basics and will allow necessary information to make possible greater knowledge through independent study. Emerging fields such as micro-nanotribology, green tribology and other related areas are playing an increasing role in the ability to understand the root-cause for friction and wear and what happens on a micro level. These new and exciting areas of study will be discussed also in this course.
Course Introduction
The study of friction, wear, and lubrication has long been of enormous practical importance, since the functioning of many mechanical, electromechanical and biological systems depends on appropriate friction and wear values. In recent decades, this field, termed "tribology," has received increasing attention. It has become evident that the waste of resources resulting from high friction and wear is greater than 6% of the Gross National Product or about $200 billion per year in the United States alone. About one-third of the world’s energy resources, in present use, appear as friction in one form or another. The importance of the reducing friction and wear cannot be overemphasized for economic reasons alone. Understanding friction, wear, lubrication and adhesion will allow a much better understanding of the reliability of rotating or sliding members. This potential savings offered by improved tribological knowledge are great.
Tribology (from the Greek word τρίβω or ‘tribo’ meaning “to rub”) is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as ‘the branch of science and technology concerned with interacting surfaces in relative motion and with associated matters (friction, wear, lubrication and the design of bearings. The term was introduced and defined in 1966 by Professor H. Peter Jost, then the chairman of a working group of lubrication engineers in the United Kingdom for the Department of Education and Science.
Regrettably, the background of most engineers in this important technological area is seriously deficient. An undergraduate engineering student receives less than one hour of instruction in tribology during a four year educational experience; moreover, most reference works on the subject of tribology provide little guidance to solving real-world problems. This course is intended to inform and broaden an individual’s understanding of this vital and fascinating subject.
Course Content
The course content is in a PDF file:
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
Engineering tribology is one of the most important fields of study for an engineering professional or engineering student. This may seem to be a fairly bold statement but, the lack of information relative to friction, wear, adhesion and lubrication can result in component pairs that will not survive calculated mean time to failure. Continued reliability of machine elements, in contact with each other, is dependent upon proper lubrication and proper design using materials suited for the specific application. Significant demands are made on mating components with heavier loads, difficult environmental conditions and greater life-expectancy. To achieve satisfactory results and minimize preventative maintenance frequency, the knowledge of tribology is an absolute must. The annual costs of improper design and lubrication is, by some estimates, $200 billion—and that is just in the United States of America. This course attempts to give the engineer, chemists, mechanical designer, etc the basic tools to satisfy “best practices” when designing machine components in contact with each other.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
