Prof. Walter Holweger has been a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Material Science, Tribology and Lubrication Chemistry within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton since September 2015. He is also a Senior Key Expert at Schaefller Technologies, Germany. He has extensive research and industrial expertise in chemistry, materials and tribology.
Part of the book: Tribology
Reliability in a drivetrain is given by the life of its constituents, e.g., gears, clutches, and bearings. Lubrication contributes to the life cycle, preventing wear, friction, and environmental impacts. As lubricants and their additives are chemicals with an expected reactivity in a tribological contact, it comes to the question how surface fatigue phenomena due to loading may be influenced by the reactivity of functional additives and how this might be embedded in construction guidelines. A very basic study based on an elementary gear test rig presents the result that pitting life of a gear is substantially influenced by the chemical structure of wear-preventing additives. Even under appropriate loading conditions, the lubricant structure comes as a life-limiting factor. A molecular model shows how the release and the approach of the additives toward a surface is essential and related to the reaction processes that occur during the loading.
Part of the book: Friction, Lubrication and Wear