Advances in Frictional Interfaces

Dear Colleagues,

Frictional interfaces govern the performance and longevity of engineering systems. The pursuit of greater efficiency, reliability, and intelligence demands a paradigm shift from passive acceptance to active management of friction and wear. This Special Issue seeks to highlight groundbreaking advances in understanding, designing, and controlling these critical interfaces, leveraging innovations in materials, modeling, and sensing to overcome longstanding challenges. This Special Issue invites the submission of high-quality original research and review articles focusing on, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Surface Engineering and Coating Technologies. Focus: Controlling friction and wear by modifying surface properties through advanced coatings (e.g., DLC), surface texturing, and heat treatments to enhance durability and performance.
• Lubricants and Lubrication Technologies. Focus: Developing novel lubricants (oils, greases) with advanced additives, studying lubrication regimes (e.g., boundary, EHL), and exploring new materials like ionic liquids and nano-lubricants.
• Wear Prediction and Damage Analysis. Focus: Analyzing fundamental wear mechanisms (adhesive, abrasive, fatigue, corrosive) and developing models to predict component lifespan and reliability under various operating conditions.
• Tribology under Extreme Conditions. Focus: Examining friction and wear behavior in harsh environments, including high/low temperatures, vacuum, high load, and corrosive atmospheres, which is critical for aerospace and energy applications.
• Intelligent Friction Control and Condition Monitoring. Focus: Developing "smart" interfaces with integrated sensors and active control systems for real-time friction adjustment, predictive maintenance, and system health management (PHM).
• Application-Specific Tribology. Focus: Addressing unique interfacial challenges in key fields, such as MEMS/NEMS Tribology: Friction and adhesion at micro- and nano-scales. Braking System Tribology: Friction, noise, thermal stability, and wear of brake disc-pad pairs. Tire-Road Tribology: Traction, hydroplaning, and rolling resistance.

Dr. Bing Wu
Guest Editor

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.

• surface engineering and coating technologies
• lubricants and lubrication technologies
• wear prediction and damage analysis
• tribological properties of vehicle brake disc/pad friction pairs
• lubrication, numerical simulation, and testing of bearings and gears