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Lubricants
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Tribology in Vehicles
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Tribology in Vehicles

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 3121

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shuwen Wang

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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Interests: structural dynamics; friction-induced vibrations and noise; vehicle NVH control; tribology; surface engineering; bio-inspired design; laser surface modification; functional surfaces for vehicles
Prof. Dr. John Williams

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Engineering Department, Robinson College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9AN, UK
Interests: tribology; surface science; tribological design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. David Charles Barton

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Interests: tribological interfaces in automotive and medical engineering; finite element analysis; impact mechanics; polymers and composites
Dr. Chunxing Gu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Interests: engine tribology; mixed lubrication; rough surface contact; surface texturing; numerical simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tribology exists everywhere in the world and is becoming ever more critical as vehicles of all classes are required to be faster, quieter and more efficient. To meet the continuous increase in the severity of government regulations, new vehicles are required to have better performance in terms of energy saving, pollution, NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and mechanical efficiency. Definitely hybrid vehicles (HEVs) and pure electric vehicles (EVs) will become dominate in the future. However, it is still the case that by 2040 vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines may well account for a significant proportion of the global annual sales of passenger and commercial vehicles so that further work on the efficiencies of IC engines is still relevant. Combustion engines burning hydrogen may well find applications in off-road, heavy duty or agricultural vehicles. Therefore, new tribological problems associated with these combustion engines are needed to be solved.

Although great achievements have been made on the energy efficiency and performance of batteries and electric powertrains, there is still much work to do on the design of novel motors, bearings, brushes/slip-ring assembly, brakes, transmissions, lubricants and lubrication systems in hybrid or pure electric vehicles including road, rail, air, and water vehicles (ships). In addition, the friction and wear problems associated with both road and rail vehicles, particularly high-speed trains—for example interactions between the tyre and the pavement or wheel and rail—continue to demand attention from tribologists and vehicle manufactures. Furthermore, vehicle pollution is closely related to tribology problems, not only engine emissions but vehicle noise at both low and high frequencies, and braking and tyre particle generation: all of these problems require innovative solutions involving elements of tribology.

Encouraged by the Editorial Office of Lubricants, we are launching a Special Issue on “Tribology in Vehicles” aiming to cover the latest developments concerned with the tribological and dynamical performance of all kinds of vehicles coupled with high-speeds, high-loads, novel materials, electrical drives and bio-inspired designs from both academic and industrial researchers working on vehicular tribological innovations. We hope that the contents of the Special Issue will contain a spread of multi-disciplined opportunities and challenges relating to vehicle tribology, which will be valuable to engineers and technologists developing efficient, green and reliable systems for modern vehicles of all classes.

Prof. Dr. Shuwen Wang
Prof. Dr. John Williams
Prof. Dr. David Charles Barton
Dr. Chunxing Gu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Lubricants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • friction and wear
  • lubrication
  • tire-road contacts
  • wheel-rail systems
  • braking systems
  • novel frictional surfaces
  • bio-inspired design
  • braking emission
  • frictional noise and vibration

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 97256 KiB  
Article
In Situ Operando Indicator of Dry Friction Squeal
by Maël Thévenot, Jean-François Brunel, Florent Brunel, Maxence Bigerelle, Merten Stender, Norbert Hoffmann and Philippe Dufrénoy
Lubricants 2024, 12(12), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants12120435 - 8 Dec 2024
Viewed by 475
Abstract
In various applications, dry friction could induce vibrations. A well-known example is frictional braking systems in ground transportation vehicles involving a sliding contact between a rotating and a stationary part. In such scenarios, the emission of high-intensity noise, commonly known as squeal, can [...] Read more.
In various applications, dry friction could induce vibrations. A well-known example is frictional braking systems in ground transportation vehicles involving a sliding contact between a rotating and a stationary part. In such scenarios, the emission of high-intensity noise, commonly known as squeal, can present human health risks based on the noise’s intensity, frequency, and occurrences. Despite the importance of squeal in the context of advancing urbanization, the parameters determining its occurrence remain uncertain due to the complexity of the involved phenomena. This study aims to identify a relevant operando indicator for predicting squeal occurrences. To this end, a pin-on-disc test rig was developed to replicate various contact conditions found in road profiles and investigate resulting squealing. Each test involves a multimodal instrumentation, complemented by surface observations. It is illustrated that the enhanced thermal indicator identified is relevant because it is sensitive to the thermomechanical and tribological phenomena involved in squealing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribology in Vehicles)
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16 pages, 4484 KiB  
Article
Start-Up Process of High-Speed Micro-Grooved Pumping Seal for New Energy Vehicles
by Hanqing Chen, Ruqi Yan, Xianzhi Hong, Xin Bao and Xuexing Ding
Lubricants 2024, 12(12), 413; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants12120413 - 26 Nov 2024
Viewed by 372
Abstract
With the growing global demand for clean energy, new energy vehicles are a key focus in the automotive industry. This paper investigates the micro-grooved pumping seal used in such vehicles, using a custom Python computational programme to study the start-up behaviour of a [...] Read more.
With the growing global demand for clean energy, new energy vehicles are a key focus in the automotive industry. This paper investigates the micro-grooved pumping seal used in such vehicles, using a custom Python computational programme to study the start-up behaviour of a non-contact oil–gas two-phase micro-grooved seal. The research explores the balance of forces during start-up, employing fractal theory for surface contact force calculations and solving the two-phase laminar Reynolds equation by the finite difference method. The results show that high-speed micro-grooved seals perform well under typical conditions for new energy vehicles. When film thickness is below a critical value, fractal dimension and characteristic length influence the initial thickness. Above the critical value, film thickness increases non-linearly with rotational speed, whereas the leakage rate decreases linearly. Critical rotational speed decreases non-linearly with the oil–gas ratio, peaking at an oil–gas ratio of 0.06. Both critical speed and leakage rate increase linearly and non-linearly with pressure and temperature, respectively. The study highlights the boundary-line where leakage transitions to pumping, providing valuable guidance for optimising seal design in new energy vehicles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribology in Vehicles)
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16 pages, 59589 KiB  
Article
Revealing the Molecular Interaction between CTL Base Oil and Additives and Its Application in the Development of Gasoline Engine Oil
by Chunfeng Zhang, Xiaojun Zhang, Qiang Yan, Liyang Wang and Xiangqiong Zeng
Lubricants 2024, 12(8), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants12080275 - 31 Jul 2024
Viewed by 823
Abstract
In order to improve fuel economy to meet the standard for passenger car oil, a new formulation with good viscosity–temperature performance for gasoline engine oil is required. In this study, coal-to-liquid (CTL) base oil, with a high viscosity index and good low-temperature performance, [...] Read more.
In order to improve fuel economy to meet the standard for passenger car oil, a new formulation with good viscosity–temperature performance for gasoline engine oil is required. In this study, coal-to-liquid (CTL) base oil, with a high viscosity index and good low-temperature performance, was selected as the base oil to develop the gasoline engine oil. A systematic study on the molecular interaction between the CTL base oil and the viscosity index improver (VII), including three kinds of hydrogenated styrene diene copolymers (HSD-type) and four kinds of ethylene propylene copolymers (OCP-type), was conducted. It was found that in general, in CTL base oil, the HSD-type VII exhibited a much higher viscosity index, a significantly lower shear stability index, a higher thickening ability, and a lower cold-cranking simulator (CCS) viscosity than that of OCP-type VII. Moreover, when comparing CTL base oil with mineral oil 150N, the combination of CTL base oil and the VII displayed a lower CCS viscosity than that of mineral oil, suggesting it had better low-temperature performance and was able to quickly form a protective oil film on the surface, which was beneficial for the cold start. The functional group distribution state of the VII in base oil was analyzed using synchrotron radiation micro-infrared microscope (SR Micro-IR) technology, which revealed that HSD-1 had a better molecular interaction with CTL6 than 150N because of the better uniformity of the C=C group distribution. Based on this, a SP 0W-20 gasoline engine oil was developed by the combination of CTL base oil and the HSD-1 viscosity index improver, together with an additive package, a polymethacrylate pour point depressant, and a non-silicone defoamer, which showed excellent low-temperature performance, thermal oxidation stability, and detergency performance compared to the reference oil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribology in Vehicles)
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17 pages, 7115 KiB  
Article
Braking Friction Coefficient Prediction Using PSO–GRU Algorithm Based on Braking Dynamometer Testing
by Shuwen Wang, Yang Yu, Shuangxia Liu and David Barton
Lubricants 2024, 12(6), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants12060195 - 29 May 2024
Viewed by 784
Abstract
The coefficients of friction (COFs) is one of the most important parameters used to evaluate the braking performance of a friction brake. Many indicators that affect the safety and comfort of automobiles are associated with brake COFs. The manufacturers of friction brakes and [...] Read more.
The coefficients of friction (COFs) is one of the most important parameters used to evaluate the braking performance of a friction brake. Many indicators that affect the safety and comfort of automobiles are associated with brake COFs. The manufacturers of friction brakes and their components are required to spend huge amounts of time and money to carry out experimental tests to ensure the COFs of a newly developed braking system meet the required standards. In order to save time and costs for the development of new friction brake applications, the GRU (Gate Recurrent Unit) algorithm optimized by the improved PSO (particle swarm optimization) global optimization method is employed in this work to predict brake COFs based on existing experimental data obtained from friction braking dynamometer tests. Compared with the LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) method, the GRU algorithm optimized by PSO avoids the accuracy reduction problem caused by gradient descent in the training process and hence reduces the prediction error and computational cost. The combined PSO–GRU algorithm increases the coefficient of determination (R2) of the prediction by 4.7%, reduces the MAE (mean absolute error) by 14.3%, and increases the prediction speed by 40.1% compared with the standalone GRU method. The prediction method based on machine learning proposed in this study can not only be applied to the prediction of automobile braking COFs but also for other frictional system problems, such as the prediction of braking noise and the friction of various bearing transmission components. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tribology in Vehicles)
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