What is Tribology?

Introduction

Tribology is defined as the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It encompasses the
study of friction, wear, lubrication and contact mechanics.

The word tribology is based on the Greek word tribos, meaning rubbing.

The early history of human knowledge in friction and wear is a fascinating subject. There is
evidence that early middle eastern civilizations had developed quite sophisticated tribological
devices such as potter’s wheels, door hinges and wheeled carriages. The transportation of large
stone building blocks and monuments required the know-how of frictional devices such as water
lubricated sleds. Military engineers rose to prominence in the days of the Roman empire by
devising both war machinery and methods of fortification, using tribological principles. It was the
renaissance engineer-artist, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), celebrated in his day for his genius in
military construction as well as for his painting and sculpture, who discovered that the tangential
force of friction between moving solid bodies is proportional to the normal force.

Friction

The force known as friction has been defined as a resistance encountered when
one body moves relative to another body with which it is in contact. The ratio of
this frictional force F to the normal force W gives the coefficient of friction.

Usually high friction is undesirable, however, in brakes it is essential. Also it is

required in order for car tyres to grip the road and between shoes and the ground
for walking.

In order to reduce friction, and consequently wear, lubrication is used.

Wear
Wear has been defined as either mass or volume of material, removed or displaced from a body
which is repeatedly stressed in mechanical contact with another body or bodies.

Wear, in most instances, is undesirable, leading to increased clearances between moving

components, increased mechanical loading and maybe even fatigue failure. In grinding and
polishing process, however, high wear rates are desirable and small amounts of wear are often
welcome in the running in of some types of machinery.

Wear is normally divided into two main types: adhesive wear and abrasive wear.
Adhesive Wear

When the surface of one component moves over another the contacting asperities adhere together
and local welds are formed. The tips of the softer asperities are then plucked off leaving them
adhering to the harder surface. These tips may subsequently become detached giving rise to wear
particles or fragments which can cause wear by abrasion.

Abrasive Wear
Damage to the surface of a component can be caused by hard asperities on a counterface or by hard
particles, forced against and sliding along the surface.. The former is known as two-body and the
latter as three-body abrasive wear. A further type of wear involving hard particles is erosive wear.
This is the process of material removal by the striking of hard particles, usually at high velocity, on
component surfaces.

Two-body Abrasion Erosion

Three-body Abrasion

Lubrication

An integral part of design engineering is a consideration of what happens at the interface between
touching components. When the surface of one component moves over another there is always a
resisting frictional force. If the surfaces are in close proximity then peaks of the surface roughness
(called asperities) interact, increasing friction, and may cause surface damage.

The primary purpose of a lubricant is to separate these contacting surfaces and thereby reduce
friction and wear. They may, in addition, act as a cooling medium or as protection from corrosion.

Contact Mechanics

Engineering machinery relies on the integrity of components with interacting surfaces such as gears,
bearings or cams. Loads are often supported on a small surface area of the component. Contact
pressures and stresses therefore tend to be high. The engineer needs to design components to
withstand these high contact stresses. Excessive contact stress or deformation can lead to
component failure by:

• Overload - components yield or fracture from excessive contact loading.

• Wear - material removal from the surfaces by abrasion or local welding of the surfaces.
• Rolling Contact Fatigue - cyclic contact stresses may cause fatigue crack initiation.
• Seizure - component surfaces local weld under high contact stress.
• Loss of Tolerance - by excessive deformation of the components.

Contacting surfaces in machinery are usually lubricated. This lowers the likelihood of direct contact
between the surfaces and reduces wear and seizure problems. The analysis of contact stress is
frequently difficult. Simple component geometries can be analyzed using hand calculations. More
complex component shapes frequently require analysis by numerical methods.

Bearing Lubrication
Proper lubrication is essential to successful performance of any bearing and necessarily
includes the selection of an adequate type of lubricant, the right amount of lubricant and
the correct application of the lubricant on the bearing.

The three fundamental functions of a lubricant are as follows :

• To separate mating surfaces and reduce friction.

• To transfer heat (with oil lubrication).
• To protect from corrosion and, with grease lubrication, from dirt ingress.

These functions include consideration of the lubrication and generated film thickness on
the raceway (simulated according to elastohydrodynamic effects) and on rib/roller end
contact.

Elastohydrodynamic lubrication

The formation of the lubricant film between the mating bearing surfaces is called the
elastohydrodynamic (EHD) mechanism of lubrication. The two major considerations in
EHD lubrication are :
The elastic deformation of the contacting bodies under load.
The hydrodynamic effects forcing the lubricant film to separate the contacting surfaces
while the pressure is deforming them.

Fig. 1
Elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication

Film thickness on the raceway

The importance of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication mechanism lies in the fact that the
lubricant film thickness between the two contacts can be related to the bearing
performance. The thickness of the generated film depends on the operating conditions
such as :

• Velocity
• Loads
• Lubricant viscosity
• Pressure/viscosity relationship.
Analytical relationships for calculating the minimum and the average film thickness have
been developed :

Minimum film thickness (based on Dowson Equation) :

hmin = KD (µoV)0.7a0.54W -0.13R0.43

where :

hmin = minimum lubricant film thickness

KD = constant containing moduli of elasticity
µo = lubricant viscosity at atmospheric pressure
V = relative surface velocity
a = lubricant pressure viscosity coefficient
W = load per unit length
R = equivalent radius

Average film thickness (based on Grubin Equation) :

h = 0.039 (µVa)0.728 (P/ l) -0.091 (S 1/ R)0.364

where :

h = lubricant film thickness (mm)

µ = viscosity of lubricant
V = surface velocity
a = lubricant pressure viscosity coefficient
P = load between inner race and rollers
l = effective length contact between rollers and inner race
S 1/ R = sum of inverses of contact radii

The major factors influencing the lubricant film thickness are viscosity and speed whereas
load has less importance. These thin EHD films are often not much larger than the surface
roughness height.

The fatigue life of a bearing is related in a complex way to speed, load, lubrication,
temperature, setting and alignment. The lubricant’s role in this interaction is determined
primarily by speed, viscosity and temperature; and the effects of these factors on bearing
fatigue life can be dramatic. For example, in a test program, ( table A ) , two bearing test
groups were subjected to conditions of constant speed and load. Differing film thicknesses
were achieved by varying operating temperature and oil grade, and thereby, oil operating
viscosity. Life was dramatically reduced at higher temperatures, with lower viscosity, and
thinner resultant films.

In another investigation, ( table B ) , viscosity and load were held constant, but speed was
varied producing results similar to those in ( table A ) higher speeds produce thicker films
and longer lives.
 Test Temperature Visc. @ Test Temp. EHD Film (hmin) Life %
Group mm2 / sec (cSt)
°C °F µm µin
A-1 135 275 2.0 0.038 1.5 13 - 19
A-2 66 150 19.4 0.264 10.4 100

Table A Relative bearing fatigue life vs EHD film thickness

(variable speed - constant temperature)

Test Speed
EHD Film (hmin) Life %
Group rev/min
µm µin
B-1 3600 0.102 4.0 100
B-2 600 0.028 1.1 40

Table B Relative bearing fatigue life vs EHD film thickness

(Variable speed - constant temperature)

Film thickness at rib/roller end contact

The contact between the large end of the roller and the inner race rib is described as an
elastohydrodynamic contact or a hydrodynamic contact (elastic deformations are
negligible). As the roller/rib loads are much lower than the roller/race loads, the film
thickness at the rib/roller end contact is usually larger than the film thickness on the
roller/race contact (approximately 2 times more). Nevertheless, in severe conditions,
scoring and/or welding of the rib/roller asperities can occur. This may be related to speed,
oil viscosity, load or inadequate oil supply to the rib/roller end contact. In these conditions,
the use of Extreme Pressure (EP) lubricant additives may help prevent scoring damage.

WARNING: Bearing lubrication is critical. Failure to maintain proper lubrication can result
in equipment failure, creating a risk of serious bodily harm.