TransForum Vol. 9, No. 1

New Tribology Center Opens Its Doors

What do alternative fuel technology, artificial joints and military vehicles operating in the Middle East have in common?

They all stand to benefit from research being done by the Illinois Center for Advanced Tribology (ICAT), a virtual center formed by Argonne National Laboratory and three partnering universities: Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago.

Tribology is the study of interacting surfaces in relative motion. This includes the friction, lubrication and wear of things like bearings and gears, but also human beings and virtually everything else that moves.

“ICAT members bring together complementary and in some cases unique capabilities to resolve critical wear and lubrication issues in the development of advanced alternative energy technologies and biomedical implants and improve functionality and longevity of systems that operate in extreme environments,” said George Fenske, manager of Argonne’s tribology group.

Alternative Energy Technologies

Our dependence on imported petroleum coupled with environmental concerns has created an urgent push to develop alternative fuels and alternative energy technologies. But these new technologies and vehicles bring an entirely new set of tribological issues for researchers to address.

“Biofuels, even E-85, can cause corrosion and wear to surfaces they come into contact with,” said Jane Wang, a professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern. “In the case of hydrogen powered vehicles, new lubricant formulas are needed for the smooth operation of moving parts since hydrogen fuel cells, which require a pure environment, prohibit the use of oil-based lubricants.”

Health and BioTribology

In the biomedical field, ICAT researchers will work closely with medical institutions to develop replacement biomaterials with tribological behaviors similar to natural joints. Michael McNallan, a professor and associate dean in UIC’s College of Engineering, said the goal is improve the durability and long-term health risks of replacement joints for more active patients.

“While current artificial joints have relatively good wear resistance, wear still occurs, and that is of particular concern when it comes to younger people who must rely on artificial joint implants for several decades,” McNallan said. “We want to develop biomaterials with in-vivo tribological behaviors. Our goal is to help develop ‘joints for life.”

Extreme Tribology

Elevated temperatures, high or very low speeds and dirty, sandy environments pose significant challenges to the reliability and durability of critical tribological systems operating in these locales. This is especially true in the Middle East, where military vehicles being used were designed 20 to 30 years ago for use in mild climates. In these older vehicles, sand and extreme heat is causing premature failure as a result of poor lubricity.

“Thermal degradation of base fluids and additives are accelerated at high temperatures, and oil viscosity is poor at high temperatures and further aggravated by the presence of sand,” said Andreas Polycarpou, a professor in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. “So one of the many innovations we plan to make is the development of self-healing surfaces; such technology would be highly desirable for extreme-condition applications.”

Working Together

With the formation of ICAT, these important issues are being taken on by a collaboration that pulls together the skills, talents and unique facilities of Argonne and the three partnering universities. The center will solicit research funds from their parent organizations and private and industrial sources.

Fenske also pointed out that ICAT would allow the partner organizations to respond more quickly to requests for research proposals because they will not have to develop work agreements for each request. The organizations will also respond to solicitations from the State of Illinois and federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Agriculture.

May 2009