Tribology and Industry: From the Origins to 4.0

Abstract

There is an increasing diffusion of the industry 4. 0 concept today. The fourth industrial revolution, following three other previous industrial revolutions, is considered related to the introduction of modern information and communication technologies in production. Tribological concepts are much older than industry. Tribology has always been connected to industrial problems from the birth of industry. It was strongly connected with the previous industrial revolutions and it is surely related to industry 4.0. In this work, the main aspects of the four industrial revolutions and the main evolutions of tribology are firstly reviewed from a historical point of view. The relationships between tribology and industry are described with particular attention to the aspects that relate the modern tribology 4.0 to industry 4.0. Tribology can have in particular a big impact on the industrial needs to reduce losses and wastes, for instance with the development of new tribological components and materials also in connection with electronic smart systems and taking advantage of the information and communication technologies.

Synergetic effects of surface texturing and solid lubricants to tailor friction and wear – A review

“…Although often not noticed, friction-and wear-related phenomena are present in everyday life and have become more important in recent years due to energy and resource concerns [1][2][3][4]. Beyond well-known examples of tribology in the world of engineering [2,5], including mechanical components such as bearings, gears, brakes and piston rings, tribological phenomena are relevant to a broad range of applications, such as contact lenses [6,7], lipstick or other cosmetical products [8,9], artificial hip or knee joints [10,11] and even drinking wine as oral tribology [12,13].…”

“…These environmental concerns are being partially addressed by new, more stringent legal restrictions on permissible CO2 limits and the usage of certain lubricant additives. Considering all these challenges, it is evident that greener, smarter, more efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, processes and systems are more urgently needed than ever before [2,4].…”

Lubricant Analysis as the Most Useful Tool in the Proactive Maintenance Philosophies of Machinery and its Components

“…For the most accurate and objective monitoring of the condition of parts of the production equipment, the monitoring is based on both the limits of individual values of oil parameters and their trends [2,19]. Limits are used primarily at the beginning of monitoring and then as the "last instance" during trends when trends are already decisive.…”

Current Trends and Applications of Machine Learning in Tribology—A Review

“…At the root of all advances are multitudes of precise experiments and advanced computer simulations across different scales and multiple physical disciplines [2]. In the context of tribology 4.0 [3] or triboinformatics [4], advanced data handling, analysis, and learning methods can be developed based upon this sound and data-rich foundation and employed to expand existing knowledge. Moreover, tribology is characterized by the fact that it is not yet possible to fully describe underlying processes with mathematical terms, e.g., by differential equations.…”