Tribology/Biotribology Laboratory
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What We Do
The Virginia Tech Tribology/Biotribology Laboratory focuses on surface science and tribology-the study of friction, wear, and lubrication-as well as biotribology, the study of biological lubrication and wear processes. Although the Laboratory is not a large-scale operation, the contributions and discoveries made by its collaborating faculty and graduate students are widely known and recognized internationally not only in the selection of difficult and important problems but in the quality of the research. The overall mission of the Tribology/Biotribology Laboratory is: (1) to promote a better understanding of the basic principles of tribology, including biological lubrication; (2) to develop new approaches to boundary lubrication and wear-reduction; and (3) to apply this knowledge and discoveries to the solution of real, practical, and industrial problems.
Research
The present research activities center on these areas:
- Tribopolymerization-a concept developed by Furey and refined in collaborative research by Kajdas-as a novel and effective approach to the boundary lubrication of ceramics and advanced alloys
- Applications of tribopolymerization in liquid and vapor phases in fuels, lubricants, and manufacturing
- Exploring possible connections between tribology and osteoarthritis with an emphasis on biochemical effects on cartilage wear
- Theoretical and experimental studies of surface temperatures generated by friction
- Fundamental studies of triboemission of charged particles from solids in rubbing contact
Facilities
- An advanced computer-controlled high temperature pin-on-disk machine which can be use for both liquid and vapor phase studies
- An advanced infrared microscope system for measurements of surface temperature under conditions of oscillating and unidirectional contact CHEM-X software for chemical modeling studies of adsorption and surface reactions