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Concept
Tribology
Summary
Whenever two objects rub together, for instance wheels on a road, gears in a motor, there is both friction and wear. Different surfaces have different amounts of friction, for instance a smooth surface compared to a rough one. How much material comes off also depends upon the surfaces, and also how much pressure is used -- for instance using sandpaper to smooth out wood. One can also add liquids such as oils or water to reduce the friction, which is called lubrication.
Tribology is the science and engineering of understanding these phenomena for interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear. Tribology is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on many academic fields, including physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, biology and engineering. People who work in the field of tribology are referred to as tribologists. The fundamental objects of study in tribology are tribosystems, which are physical systems of contacting surfaces. In lubricated tribosystems, contact stress can create tribofilms. Subfields of tribology include biotribology, nanotribology and space tribology.
The word tribology derives from the Greek root τριβ- of the verb τρίβω, tribo, "I rub" in classic Greek, and the suffix -logy from -λογία, -logia "study of", "knowledge of". Peter Jost coined the word in 1966, in the eponymous report which highlighted the cost of friction, wear and corrosion to the UK economy.
Despite the relatively recent naming of the field of tribology, quantitative studies of friction can be traced as far back as 1493, when Leonardo da Vinci first noted the two fundamental 'laws' of friction. According to Leonardo, frictional resistance was the same for two different objects of the same weight but making contact over different widths and lengths. He also observed that the force needed to overcome friction doubles as weight doubles. However, Leonardo's findings remained unpublished in his notebooks.
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