Tribology is the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Tribology includes boundary-layer interactions both between solids and between solids and liquids and/or gases. Tribology encompasses the entire field of friction and wear, including lubrication.
Tribology is derived from the Greek word ‘tribos’ meaning rubbing or sliding. After an initial period of scepticism, as is inevitable for any newly introduced word or concept, the word ‘tribology’ has gained gradual acceptance. As the word tribology is relatively new, its meaning is still unclear to the wider community and humorous comparisons with tribes or tribolites tend to persist as soon as the word ‘tribology’ is mentioned.
Tribology aims to optimize friction and wear for a particular application case. Apart from fulfilling the required function, this means assuring high efficiency and sufficient reliability at the lowest possible manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance costs.
Friction and wear are frequently undesirable. While friction impairs the efficiency of machine elements, machines, and plants and thus increases the energy demand, wear diminishes the value of components and assemblies and can lead to the failure of machines and plants. On the other hand, many technical applications strive for high friction, e.g., brakes, clutches, wheels/rails, car tires/road, friction gears, belt drives, bolted joints, and press fits. To a limited extent, wear can also be advantageous in special cases, e.g., in breaking-in processes.
Friction and wear are not properties specific to the geometry or substance of only one of the elements involved in friction and wear, e.g., external dimensions, surface roughnesses, thermal conductivity, hardness, yield point, density or structure, but rather are properties of a system. The system’s friction and/or wear behavior can already change seriously when one influencing variable of the tribotechnical system is marginally modified.
Lubrication is employed to lessen friction and minimize wear or to prevent them entirely. In the case of circulatory lubrication, the lubricant can additionally remove wear particles and heat from the friction contact. Other important tasks of lubrication are preventing corrosion (rusting) and, in the case of grease lubrication, sealing the friction points.
Expanded representation of a tribotechnical system (TTS)