Novel Tribology in Drivetrain Components

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 1478

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Technical Consultat, D-72351 Geislingen, Germany
2. Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Interests: advanced materials research; components; bearings; rolling contact fatigue; white etching cracks; tribology and lubrication
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Interests: artificial intelligence; machine learning; components; bearings; reliability; availability; tribology and lubrication; dynamic probabilistic risk assessment of complex systems; impact of organizational factors on socio-technical systems risk; root cause analysis and accident investigations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The next era requires a novel approach toward drivetrain technology. This includes the invention of new sustainable materials with consideration for ecological aspects. Basically, these efforts aim to reduce friction and wear with a favorable CO2 footprint for the duration of the drivetrain’s operational life. Currently, the reliability of industrial and automotive drivetrains in their life cycle is based on the robustness of the tribological system, held together by steel components and the use of appropriate lubricants. However, modern tribology has to consider inherent electricity and achieving viscosity in order to minimize the energy losses caused by splashing. These aspects revolve around tribology and lubrication, such that basic mechanisms governing friction and wear have to be researched continuously for the load-carrying and load-transmitting components exemplarily represented by the bearings and gears. Moreover, sustainability leads to the question of how nature-derived materials, as the most sustainable and de-centralized resources available, could substitute the current technology mainly based on the chemistry of hydrocarbons. The overall presence of electricity in such components will cause impacts, and the basic mechanisms are not yet concisely understood. As the robustness of a drivetrain is at the forefront of mechanical, physical, and chemical engineering, plenty of data are needed in order to obtain their scales and dimensions. Consequently, a novel tribology is inevitable, accompanied by data science based on the fundamentals of chemistry and physics and assisted by machine learning technology. We invite all researchers in mechanical, physical, and chemical engineering, as well as data scientists worldwide, to share their thoughts, opinions, and results on this fascinating new tribology study in the new module offered by MDPI.

Prof. Dr. Walter Martin Holweger
Prof. Dr. Mario Brito
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • tribology
  • lubrication
  • components
  • bearings
  • gears
  • industrial and automotive drivetrains

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 12654 KiB  
Article
Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study on the Role of Jet Angle in Controlling the Flow of Transmission Gears
by Tiangang Zou, Qingdong Yan, Wei Hou, Chunyu Wang, Ziqiang Zhang and Junye Li
Lubricants 2025, 13(5), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants13050225 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 212
Abstract
Gears play an important role in modern machinery and are indispensable transmission components, particularly at high speeds, where lubrication is essential for the reliability and efficiency of the gear unit. In order to study the oil coverage law and heat dissipation mechanism of [...] Read more.
Gears play an important role in modern machinery and are indispensable transmission components, particularly at high speeds, where lubrication is essential for the reliability and efficiency of the gear unit. In order to study the oil coverage law and heat dissipation mechanism of high-speed rotating meshing gears by injection angle, this paper adopts the moving particle semi-implicit method to establish a high-speed rotating gear lubrication model, study the intrinsic effect of different jet angles on gear lubrication, and build a gear lubrication bench for experimental verification. Numerical simulation found that with an increase in spray angle, the gear surface coverage and heat transfer coefficient of the high-speed rotating transmission gears initially increase and then decrease. They reflect the same lubrication law characteristics. When the injection angle was 90°, the surface coverage and heat transfer coefficient values were at their greatest, resulting in the best spray lubricating effect. According to the experimental results, under the conditions of 0.5 MPa injection pressure and high-speed rotation of the transmission gear with vertical injection, the lubricant covers the largest surface area of the gear and the least power loss. Simultaneously, in our previous study, we experimentally obtained the optimal parameter conditions on the basis of which we derived. The effect of nozzle diameter on jet lubrication was investigated in a previous study, and in this article, the effect of nozzle angle and distance on gear lubrication is investigated; the optimal conditions for high-speed lubrication of gears are the incident distance of 3.5 cm, incident angle of 90°, incident diameter of 1.5 mm, and gear speed of 2000 r/min, and the lubrication effect reaches the best ideal state; reduction in oil loss due to oil injection lubrication and power loss due to different parameters of the lubrication system. Lubrication design provides a theoretical foundation for the transmission system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Tribology in Drivetrain Components)
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23 pages, 13109 KiB  
Article
Study of the Effect of Regulating Alloying Elements and Optimizing Heat Treatment Processes on the Microstructure Properties of 20MnCr5 Steel Gears
by Li Luo, Yong Chen, Fucheng Zhao, Weifeng Hua, Xu Song, Zhengyun Xu and Zhicheng Jia
Lubricants 2025, 13(5), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants13050202 - 1 May 2025
Viewed by 339
Abstract
To optimize heat treatment of gears for high-end equipment and enhance their fatigue resistance, this paper studied the effects of Al, Mn and Cr content on surface microstructure, i.e., martensite, retained austenite, grain size, hardened layer depth and residual stress under different carburizing [...] Read more.
To optimize heat treatment of gears for high-end equipment and enhance their fatigue resistance, this paper studied the effects of Al, Mn and Cr content on surface microstructure, i.e., martensite, retained austenite, grain size, hardened layer depth and residual stress under different carburizing temperatures and low tempering of 20MnCr5 steel FZG gear. With numerical simulation combined with experimental verification, this paper establishes a simulation model for the carburizing process of 20MnCr5 steel FZG gear, analyzing the microstructure and retained austenite volume of the gear surface, after carburizing and quenching, by a scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the paper reveals the influence of the optimized heat treatment on the residual stress of the gear regulated with Al, Mn and Cr content in the meshing wear range of 200~280 µm. This study provides a guiding model theory and experimental verification for regulating proportions of alloying elements and optimizing the heat treatment process of low-carbon-alloy steel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Tribology in Drivetrain Components)
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20 pages, 30551 KiB  
Article
Effect of Gear Body Temperature on the Dynamic Characteristics of Spiral Bevel Gears
by Xi-Qing Zheng, Jun-Hong Hui and Hui-Qing Lan
Lubricants 2025, 13(2), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants13020082 - 13 Feb 2025
Viewed by 631
Abstract
Thermal effect is an important cause of gear system engineering failure. Spiral bevel gears are widely used in helicopter transmissions, but scuffing often occurs during operation. Tooth surface body temperature is an important factor influencing scuffing in scuffing standards. A thermal dynamic model [...] Read more.
Thermal effect is an important cause of gear system engineering failure. Spiral bevel gears are widely used in helicopter transmissions, but scuffing often occurs during operation. Tooth surface body temperature is an important factor influencing scuffing in scuffing standards. A thermal dynamic model of spiral bevel gear transmission was developed based on varying tooth body temperatures under different oil spray conditions. Vibration acceleration experiments were conducted using a dedicated scuffing test rig. The results indicate that higher oil spray temperatures intensify vibrations, with a 24.3% increase in the maximum variance of vibration acceleration. Mesh frequency and stiffness decrease, increasing the likelihood of tooth surface failures such as scuffing. Accurate monitoring of tooth body temperature is critical to ensuring the reliable operation of spiral bevel gears in helicopter transmissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Tribology in Drivetrain Components)
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