Tribology 101 – Introduction to the Basics of Tribology

The webinar provides an introduction to the basics of tribology. Arun Sikder, PhD first defines tribology as the study of friction, lubrication, and wear between two surfaces in contact. He discusses how tribology is relevant across many fields and scales, from microscopic to large industrial processes.

Dr. Sikder emphasizes that surface properties are important to understand, as true surfaces may differ from bulk properties and have roughness, contaminants, and other variations. He explains the fundamentals of friction, and how its effects can be quantified using the coefficient of friction. He then introduces common lubrication principles and wear modes.

Dr. Sikder concludes by stressing that tribology systems are complex and depend on factors like load, speed, and environment. Proper characterization of the tribological system is needed to understand and predict its friction and wear behavior. The UMT TriboLab is a tool to that can be used to test different tribological configurations and conditions to better predict in-use performance. 

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