Vasilios Bakolas

A set of regulations, that is being developed at the moment as a part of the “Green Deal” of the EU, is aiming to define all of the aspects that are related to sustainability, such as the calculation of environmental indicators, the exchange of data across the supply chain, minimum environmental requirements of products and, finally, rules regarding the communication with the end consumers. In this presentation, an overview of the most relevant regulations will be presented and their impact will be explained with the use of some examples.

Dr. Vasilios Bakolas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he also wrote his Ph.D. thesis. In 2000 he started working as an analytical engineer for the Schaeffler Group. For more than 10 years he was responsible for contact modelling and lubrication analysis of contacts. From 2011-2017 he was responsible for the Advanced Bearing Analysis Department where he continued to deal with tribology questions, but he was also heavily involved in innovation projects in the field of bearings. In 2017 he was appointed to Principal Expert for Bearings R&D. He is also an Associate Editor for Tribology Transactions since 2009. He has been a member of the STLE Board of Directors from 2012-2018 and was named STLE Fellow in 2020. Dr. Bakolas has written more than 60 articles and conference papers. He also holds more than 10 patents related to various aspects of rolling element bearings.

 Xavier Borras

In 2018, the European Commission launched the 1st generation of Open Innovation Test Beds (OITBs) projects to accelerate European innovation. OITBs were expected to create jobs, grow economies, and help reach Europe’s ambitions for a greener planet. One of the fields that was deemed essential to meet Europe’s long-term economic, technological, and environmental goals, was TRIBOLOGY. Among other topics such as composites, lightweight materials, flexible electronics, or batteries, tribology was considered key for the development of innovative advanced materials. Advanced materials can play a vital role in Europe's transition to a low carbon, knowledge-based economy. All OITBs share a distinctive characteristic, OITBs must be self-sustainable, i.e., OITBs must not depend on public funding to ensure the sustainability and longevity of the platform. Therefore, at the end of each project, an independent organization capable to cover its own expenses (or even generate profit) must be funded. As a result of it, in January 2019, the H2020 project “i-TRIBOMAT” was launched to create a tribology knowledge sharing hub with the goal of “lubricating European innovation”. That includes, aligning the tribological practices of the leading testing centers in Europe (i.e., the creation of new standards and best practices), sharing the tribology infrastructure across Europe, and homogenizing the results of all the centers so all the data generated can be stored in the first online database for tribological test results. In short, the European Commission requested the tribology testing centers involved in the project (i.e., BAM, VTT, AC2T, Tekniker, and LTU) to team up instead of competing – a united European front for tribology. The project (and its funding) finished in 2023 and, since March 2023, an OITB dedicated to tribology is available to industry: The European Tribology Centre (i-TRIBOMAT GmbH). This single entry point for tribological services receives no public funding and, besides generating enough profit to maintain its infrastructure and employees, i-TRIBOMAT contributes to the creation of novel, more efficient, and sustainable standards, helping to bring new innovations to the market faster and boosting the transition to greener technologies.

Xavier Borras is an Industrial Engineer with passion for tribology. In 2012, Xavier obtained his MSc in Industrial Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain). He carried out his MSc Thesis at the Luleå University of Technology in collaboration with Vattenfall Hydropower. Still in Sweden, he worked on the development of Stirling engines for green applications in Gothenburg. In 2016, he moved to the Netherlands to carry out his PhD in Sealing Technology at the University of Twente. Later he joined AC2T Research in Austria, and for almost three years he managed various tribology-related projects for the industry. Now, he works for the first Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) dedicated to tribology: “The European Tribology Centre” (www.i-tribomat.eu). He has recently been appointed as its General Manager. Between his passions there is a special place for testing skin tribology on the climbing wall and 3D printing mechanical components. He is also part of the team behind the world’s largest blog on tribology.

 Sathwik Chatra

About lubricating grease

Bio TBA

Büşra Duran

Lubricant degradation can have a significant impact on the efficiency and reliability of mechanical systems. This study analyses the effects of field operation on the physicochemical properties and tribological performances of transmission oils. Viscosity and composition of fresh-new oils and field-collected ones are analysed and tribological tests on the High Frequency Reciprocating Rig (HFRR) and the Mini Traction Machine (MTM) are carried out, to identify potential differences. Results reveal changes in intrinsic properties and tribological behaviour. They show that the evolution of the oil is highly dependent on the system and operating conditions, results that differ from those traditionally observed with engine oils.

Büşra DURAN has a master degree in mechanical engineering from INSA Lyon in France. During her final year of Master Degree, she did a 6-months internship at SKF Research and Technology Development on the tribological performance of reconditioned oils. She is now doing a PhD on the assessment of the degradation impacts of transmissions oils on physico-chemical properties, tribological performance and system-level behavior.

Dieter Fauconnier

In this era of sustainability, rational material use, and energy efficiency, adequate environmentally-friendly lubrication of machines and their mechanical components has become imperative to reduce friction and wear Achieving this goal hinges not only on proper mechanical design but also on the meticulous selection and application of lubricants tailored to specific machines, processes, or critical mechanical components, depending on the operating conditions. A thorough a priori or a posteriori
understanding of the lubrication condition in machine components is essential for design improvements, not onlyunder standard steady-state conditions, but more importantly under the precise – often challenging – conditions they encounter during operation. Due to the inaccessibility of tribo-contacts in real machine components and the lack of robust miniaturized in-situ measurement techniques, computational modelling can be key to assess lubrication in machine contacts for different materials, surface finishings, velocities, and loading scenarios, provided that an acceptable level of accuracy and reliability can be achieved. To address this challenge, we are developing a hierarchical multiscale modelling framework for Thermo-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (TEHL). The framework spans from molecular-level lubricant modelling to contact-level simulations and extends to component-level modelling at the continuum scale. This approach is expected to improve our understanding of lubrication phenomena while increasing the reliability of the simulations. This presentation highlights three key aspects that can significantly contribute to the predictive capabilities of TEHL calculations in terms of film thickness and surface tractions. First, we focus on the reliable and accurate calculation of the constitutive behaviour of lubricants using Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (EMD) simulations. This knowledge is essential to accurately capture the low-shear mechanical and thermodynamic lubricant properties at elevated pressures and relevant temperatures. Second, we illustrate the importance of comprehensive modelling of all relevant physical phenomena at the contact level.. This includes consideration of several factors such as precise geometries, thermal effects, surface roughness, and material properties. Finally, we argue that the boundary conditions for TEHL contact models are significantly influenced by component and system-level phenomena. Incorporating these influences into our modelling framework ensures that our simulations are not only accurate at the contact level but also relevant and reliable in real-world applications.

Dieter Fauconnier (February 21, 1981), is currently affiliated with Ghent University at the Soete Laboratory as associated professor in Tribology. He earned his Master of Science degree in Electromechanical Engineering from Ghent University in 2004. In 2008, he successfully completed his Ph.D. in Electromechanical Engineering, with a specialization in accuracy and reliability of computational modeling of turbulent flows, also at Ghent University.

Following the completion of his doctoral studies, from 2009 to 2014, Dieter Fauconnier served as an academic researcher with a primary focus on turbulence modeling. After gaining industry experience as a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) expert, he returned to academia in 2015. Currently, he holds the position of associate professor in Computational Tribology at the Soete Laboratory, Ghent University, Belgium.

His primary research interests revolve around multi-scale and multi-physics modeling of lubricants and lubrication in machine components and experimental validation thereof. The research activities in his group encompass various aspects such as Thermo-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (TEHL), Plasto-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (PEHL), surface texturing and mixed lubrication, employing both atomistic and continuum techniques. Furthermore, in-situ experimental techniques for lubrication measurements are explored for validation purposes. Additionally, he is actively involved in research related to multi-scale and multi-physics modeling of erosion and abrasion wear processes, utilizing discrete and continuum techniques to investigate the fundaments of these phenomena

Manfred Jungk

 STLE has released its 2023 Report on Emerging Issues and Trends in Tribology and Lubrication Engineering. The report builds on a multiphase research effort to evaluate current trends and predict future developments impacting the tribology and lubrication engineering field. This latest report is the fourth installment of a multiphase research effort that began in 2014. Current trends are classified into six key topic areas that will affect the tribology and lubrication business in 2023 and beyond.

• Chemist with doctorate degree and 35 years experience in the lubricant industry, 29 years in various roles at Dow Corning‘s Molykote® lubricants product line
• Recognized (STLE fellow) contributor to the tribology community worldwide through presentations at conferences, journal articles, book chapters and society's board membership.
• Editor in Chief of Tribologie und Schmierungstechnik, the leading German peer reviewed Journal on Tribologie, available online, English articles possible, Open Access possible.
• Initiator and Co-Editor of Schmierstoff und Schmierung, quarterly German language publication for the lubricant industry.
• Board member of ELGI (European Lubricating and Grease Institute) and GfT (Gesellschaft für Tribologie)

Amir Kadaric

Transmission power losses constitute a major part of the overall energy loss in an electric vehicle (EV). In relative terms, this contribution is up to five times larger than in an equivalent IC-powered vehicle. Consequently, the ability to predict and minimise transmission losses provides an important avenue for improving the overall efficiency and hence the range of an EV. A major challenge in any gearbox efficiency modelling is the need to account for the interdependency of the different sources of power losses, namely gear friction, bearing friction and oil churning. This interdependency occurs due to the evolution of gearbox temperature, and the subsequent changes in oil viscosity, during a vehicle drive cycle. Unlike in the ICE vehicle, where the engine and gearbox have their own independent lubrication systems and can be treated separately, in a typical EV a single fluid is used to both cool the electric motor and lubricate the gearbox. This complicates the all-important predictions of temperature evolution and effectively means that the efficiency of the e-motor and the gearbox are linked. Hence, optimisation of an EV powertrain through lubricant selection and gearbox design requires an integrated, thermally-coupled approach.

This paper describes a recently developed and validated, thermally-coupled tribological model for prediction of EV gearbox efficiency. The model predicts overall transmission losses by considering gear teeth friction, bearing and seal friction and churning losses over any given vehicle drive cycle. The temperature changes in the gearbox during the drive cycle, including the effect of motor cooling and any heat exchangers in the system, are accounted for through a suitable thermal network. Crucially, the model uses experimentally obtained lubricant rheology parameters as input which allows it to discriminate between different lubricant formulations in terms of their effect on the gearbox efficiency. The model is able to estimate the impact of design choices such as lubricant properties or choice of bearings etc. on the overall EV range. Model predictions are compared to measurements made on a popular passenger EV for a range of real-world duty cycles. Further results are presented
to compare EV transmission losses over standardised drive cycles for different lubricants and to illustrate how lubricant parameters, such as viscosity, may be optimised to increase the EV range.

Dr Amir Kadiric is an academic in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London and a member of the Tribology Group. He is also a co-director of the SKF University Technology Centre for Tribology at Imperial College. He has published more than 50 peer reviewed papers and book chapters and delivered numerous invited and keynote talks. His research interests include tribological damage mechanisms, EV tribology, condition monitoring and contact mechanics. He currently supervises 10 PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.

Linus Meier

As world’s first, close-up images and videos of the chip formation under metal working fluid were obtained. The orthogonal milling processes were performed in a tub with a window at the bottom, which permitted observation from below. Local clouding of fully synthetic metalworking fluids and boiling allowed to estimate temperatures and to study metalworking fluid action mechanisms in combination with different chip formation for different alloys.As world’s first, close-up images and videos of the chip formation under metal working fluid were obtained. The orthogonal milling processes were performed in a tub with a window at the bottom, which permitted observation from below. Local clouding of fully synthetic metalworking fluids and boiling allowed to estimate temperatures and to study metalworking fluid action mechanisms in combination with different chip formation for different alloys.

• Raised near Zurich, Switzerland• Studies in mechanical engineering with a focus on manufacturing at ETH Zurich

• Doctoral studies on metalworking fluids for titanium cutting with Prof. Wegener at ETH Zurich

• Since 2020: Tribology specialist at Blaser Swisslube. Main topics are basic research and modelling of tool wear, data handling and evaluation, and academic research partnerships

Arnaud Reininga

Ian Taylor

Lubricants are used to reduce friction and wear in machines, saving billions of dollars worldwide in energy and breakdown costs and lowering CO2 emissions. Today, most lubricants are made using hydrocarbons derived from crude oil, which is a finite resource, although alternative bio-based lubricants are also being investigated, as is the re-refining of used lubricants to make new base oil. The CO2 emissions from current lubricants (due to their manufacture and waste disposal) are estimated and it is found that CO2 emissions from the production and disposal of lubricants are very much lower than the CO2 emissions associated with the energy used by those machines. It is also shown that an effective way to make lubricants more sustainable is to extend lubricant oil drain intervals and collect
used oil and re-refine it to make base oil for re-use. The role of bio-based lubricants, and their benefits and disadvantages are discussed. Other aspects in which lubricants can be made more sustainable are also briefly covered, such as lubricant packaging, the removal of toxic additives via improved regulatory chemistry, and the use of renewable electricity in blending plants.

After a degree in Physics and a PhD in Applied Physics and Electronics, Ian Taylor worked for Plessey Research from 1988-1991 and then joined Shell in 1991. He mainly worked in tribology and lubrication research whilst at Shell and was Global Technology Manager for Shell's Lubrication Science team from 2006 to 2012. His research focussed on energy efficient lubricants, and he also managed Shell's University research links in tribology from the mid 1990's to 2020, working closely with various UK, US and Chinese Universities. His tribology research has resulted in over 50 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. Ian has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Central Lancashire since 2020and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and of the STLE. He received the Tribology Silver Medal from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 2020.

 Mathias Woydt

Contributions of tribology to decarbonization and its inclusion in climate reporting and emissions trading - Tribology as Net Emission Technology

The electrical response of tribocontact –What kind of electrical properties can we measure and trigger?

Dr. Mathias Woydt studied and received his Ph.D. from the Berlin University of Technology. Currently he is Managing director of MATRILUB, Germany and Board member of The German Society for Tribology (Gesellschaft für Tribologie e.V. – GfT). Dr Woydt has more than 51 co-authored patent applications underline the technological orientation focused on functional properties in products. He is recipient of the ASTM award of Excellence and is a STLE fellow. He has more than 340 reviewed industrial and scientific papers were published in German, English and French. The publications generated more than 2,300 citations. HIRSCH factor is 28. Monograph of 2nd edition of “Tribology Handbook”, edited two books and several ASTM STPs. 24 invited contributions appeared in books, handbooks, and encyclopaedias Participation in twelve European R&D projects, eleven projects from the Federal German Ministries and in fifteen projects from the German Science Foundation. He is lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin for Tribology. He was 34 years as head of division "Tribology&Wear Protection" with BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin Dr Woydt lead the expert studies of the German Society for Tribology ( www.gft-ev.de )