Friction and Wear Mechanism Under Extreme Environments

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2025) | Viewed by 3378

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: high-temperature lubrication technology; lubricating mechanism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid development of the aviation, aerospace, and cutting-edge equipment manufacturing industries, there are increasingly stringent performance requirements for mechanical equipment and their components. The service conditions for moving parts have become progressively more demanding, with extreme environments involving high temperatures, high speeds, and heavy loads that are more likely to result in lubrication failure at mechanical interfaces. Such failures can lead to abnormal wear and, in severe cases, equipment breakdown. Ensuring effective lubrication of moving interfaces in high-temperature environments is crucial for maintaining the safe operation of components and enhancing the reliability and longevity of equipment systems. Despite technological breakthroughs in high-temperature lubrication technologies and high-temperature-resistant alloys, research on lubrication material systems under extreme working conditions remains insufficient. There is a critical need for further investigation into the mechanisms of friction and wear at high temperatures and in extreme environments.

We are honored to collaborate with the editorial team of Lubricants to launch a Special Issue entitled “Friction and Wear Mechanism Under Extreme Environments”, which aims to advance our understanding of tribology under extreme working conditions. This Special Issue will focus on tribological research related to aerospace, industrial applications, vehicles, and other fields where components are exposed to special working conditions, particularly high temperatures. Topics will include the friction and wear behavior of bearings, gears, and other components under extreme conditions, such as high temperature and high pressure, as well as the latest developments in tribology for these challenging environments. We welcome all research related to tribology under special conditions and other relevant work for inclusion in this Special Issue.

Dr. Pengpeng Bai
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • lubrication
  • high temperature
  • friction mechanism
  • tribology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 8724 KB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Emulsion, Cutting Oil, and Synthetic Oil-Free Fluids on Machining Temperatures and Performance in Side Milling of Ti-6Al-4V
by Hui Liu, Markus Meurer and Thomas Bergs
Lubricants 2025, 13(9), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants13090396 - 6 Sep 2025
Viewed by 909
Abstract
During machining, most of the mechanical energy is converted into heat. A substantial part of this heat is transferred to the cutting tool, causing a rapid rise in tool temperature. Excessive thermal loads accelerate tool wear and lead to displacement of the tool [...] Read more.
During machining, most of the mechanical energy is converted into heat. A substantial part of this heat is transferred to the cutting tool, causing a rapid rise in tool temperature. Excessive thermal loads accelerate tool wear and lead to displacement of the tool center point, reducing machining accuracy and workpiece quality. This challenge is particularly pronounced when machining titanium alloys. Due to their low thermal conductivity, titanium alloys impose significantly higher thermal loads on the cutting tool compared to conventional carbon steels, making the process more difficult. To reduce temperatures in the cutting zone, cutting fluids are widely employed in titanium machining. They have been shown to significantly extend tool life. Cutting fluids are broadly categorized into cutting oils and water-based cutting fluids. Owing to their distinct thermophysical properties, these fluids exhibit notably different cooling and lubrication performance. However, current research lacks comprehensive cross-comparative studies of different cutting fluid types, which hinders the selection of optimal cutting fluids for process optimization. This study examines the influence of three cutting fluids—emulsion, cutting oil, and synthetic oil-free fluid—on tool wear, temperature, surface quality, and energy consumption during flood-cooled end milling of Ti-6Al-4V. A novel experimental setup incorporating embedded thermocouples enabled real-time temperature measurement near the cutting edge. Tool wear, torque, and surface roughness were recorded over defined feed lengths. Among the tested fluids, emulsion achieved the best balance of cooling and lubrication, resulting in the longest tool life with a feed travel path of 12.21 m. This corresponds to an increase of approximately 200% compared to cutting oil and oil-free fluid. Cutting oil offered superior lubrication but limited cooling capacity, resulting in localized thermal damage and edge chipping. Water-based cutting fluids reduced tool temperatures by over 300 °C compared to dry cutting but, in some cases, increased notch wear due to higher mechanical stress at the entry point. Power consumption analysis revealed that the cutting fluid supply system accounted for 60–70% of total energy use, particularly with high-viscosity fluids like cutting oil. Complementary thermal and CFD simulations were used to quantify heat partitioning and convective cooling efficiency. The results showed that water-based fluids achieved heat transfer coefficients up to 175 kW/m2·K, more than ten times higher than those of cutting oil. These findings emphasize the importance of selecting suitable cutting fluids and optimizing their supply to enhance tool performance and energy efficiency in Ti-6Al-4V machining. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction and Wear Mechanism Under Extreme Environments)
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14 pages, 4258 KB  
Article
Synergistic Tribological Performance of Phosphorus- and Sulfur-Based Extreme Pressure and Anti-Wear Additives
by Jingyu Wang, Jinhua Zheng, Jun Wang, Xiao Yao, Xing Xiong and Haipeng Huang
Lubricants 2025, 13(2), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants13020055 - 28 Jan 2025
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1734
Abstract
Higher demands on extreme pressure lubrication performance are posed by stringent working conditions. In this study, the synergistic tribological properties of phosphate ammonium salt in combination with active sulfurized olefin (S1) and non-active sulfurized fatty acids (S2) were investigated to meet the needs [...] Read more.
Higher demands on extreme pressure lubrication performance are posed by stringent working conditions. In this study, the synergistic tribological properties of phosphate ammonium salt in combination with active sulfurized olefin (S1) and non-active sulfurized fatty acids (S2) were investigated to meet the needs under stringent working conditions. The anti-wear mechanisms were further explored using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), and focused ion beam microscopy. The experimental results indicate that P-S2 demonstrates superior friction reduction and wear resistance under low loads, potentially attributable to its higher polarity, whereas P-S1 exhibits better wear resistance under high loads. P-S1 also shows superior extreme pressure performance attributed to its higher active sulfur content and stronger film-forming ability, evidenced by a thicker friction film (82.62 nm vs. 24.28 nm for P-S2). The study highlights that the variations in the synergistic tribological performance of phosphorus- and sulfur-based additives may link to differences in molecular structure, active sulfur content, polarity, and corrosiveness, with P-S1 demonstrating enhanced extreme pressure performance possibly through the formation of a multi-layered friction film of polyphosphate, sulfide, oligophosphate, and sulfate layers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction and Wear Mechanism Under Extreme Environments)
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