Design and Characterization of Engineered Bearing Surfaces

Dear Colleagues,

The design and manufacturing of engineered bearing surfaces plays a crucial role in the performance and reliability of mechanical equipment. The bearings’ surface quality significantly impacts their operational efficiency, fatigue life, and overall reliability. Achieving precise and desired surface finishes is essential for optimal performance. As an example, for a gear pair, it greatly affects life and the level of undesired effects such as noise. The main challenges lie in:

• Tolerance Control: Maintaining tight tolerances during manufacturing is challenging due to material variations and process limitations;
• Surface Integrity: Achieving desired surface properties (such as hardness, roughness, and microstructure) without compromising bulk material properties is complex;
• Wear and Friction: Balancing wear resistance and low friction is critical for prolonged bearing life;
• Complex Geometries: Some bearing designs involve intricate shapes, making machining and finishing difficult.

When designing surfaces or, more concretely, selecting the manufacturing method and tool characteristics, there is always a balance between macro (form), micro (waviness), and surface roughness. The effect of macro and micro geometry can be simulated, often by using commercial tools; however, the link between these tools and advanced surface simulation tools is still an evolving research field. Therefore, there is a need for tribological testing and various ways of measuring, analyzing, and characterizing surfaces.

In this Special Issue, we wish to highlight the most recent and significant developments in surface characterization, preferably in collaboration with the manufacturing industry. This Special Issue encourages and welcomes original research articles with a significant contribution to numerical, theoretical, and experimental surface analyses. Review articles related to these application areas are also invited.

Dr. Robert Tomkowski
Dr. Ellen Bergseth
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. Machines 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 2400 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
• surface characterization
• surface properties
• wear mechanisms
• measurement method
• modeling and simulation
• smart surfaces
• sustainable practices