{"260241":{"#nid":"260241","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The trouble with tribology: Why aren\u0027t more people talking about it?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESo a biomedical, a nanoelectronics and a renewable energy researcher walk into a lab\u2026 Ok, maybe not your typical opening line for a joke, but these three actually have a research challenge in common that makes this scenario not so laughable. What is that commonality? Tribology.\u0026nbsp; But what is tribology exactly?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of research disciplines,\u201d joked Dr. Richard Cowan, Senior Research Scientist and Director at the Georgia Tech Laboratory for Extreme Tribology and Diagnostics, at his Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute Brown Bag Seminar. And like comedian Dangerfield, tribology doesn\u2019t get the respect it deserves, because \u201cpeople don\u2019t realize the benefits,\u201d added Dr. Cowan.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETribology is, in fact, the science of interacting surfaces. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear and, according to Cowan, it involves a variety of disciplines including material science, heat transfer and fluids engineering, to name a few.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd when you think about it, almost every area of research touches on interacting surfaces.\u0026nbsp; Take for example the biomedical field. When developing replacements for body parts, synthetic materials come in contact with natural tissues. Screws and plates interact with bone in fracture repair, and contact lenses are synthetic materials that not only come in contact with human tissue, but are free to glide around the surface of the eye. These are just a couple of examples of how interacting surface research can affect a human\u2019s quality of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraditionally, however, tribology has focused on the wear, corrosion and friction of industrial equipment in manufacturing facilities, and this alone can have a huge impact. In fact, Dr. Cowan explained, \u201cIt is estimated that direct and consequential annual loss due to wear is equal to 1 percent to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut looking at the basic description of tribology, the science of interacting surfaces goes far beyond industrial equipment. Dr. Cowan encouraged the students and faculty in attendance to consider how minimizing friction and wear in some research areas could be beneficial, while maximizing friction and wear may be productive in others.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo help accommodate research, Dr. Cowan listed the equipment available in his lab:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECETR Tribometer, to measure coefficient of friction, friction force, and wear volume;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESpectrometer, for deposits and wear debris analysis;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOptical Microscope, for viewing surface patterns under magnification;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOptical Profilometer, to measure a surface\u2019s profile and quantify its roughness;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMicrohardness tester, to measure changes in hardness of materials on a microscopic scale; and\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance, a high-speed tribosimulator\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe tribosimulator is the core of our research,\u201d said Dr. Cowan. \u201cMuch of what we\u2019re doing uses it, including work being done on behalf of the Department of Defense.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a nutshell, the Georgia Tech tribosimulator is a unique device that uses electricity to move an object relative to a stationary one versus propelling the object chemically at a very high rate of speed. For the Department of Defense, this means electromagnetic launcher research. Upon reviewing other current research around the world, tribosimulators of a similar nature have been used to measure the coefficient of friction in hot stamping and to improve lubricants of wire films in the production of fasteners. Dr. Cowan closed his presentation by saying, \u201cOur current research may be specific to the Department of Defense\u2019s needs, but try to see the connections that can be made from its use in other areas, such as the high-speed removal of material in subtractive manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Cowan\u2019s presentation was part of the GTMI Brown Bag Seminar Series, which takes place each Monday between noon and 1 p.m. in the Manufacturing Research Building, Room 114. Students and faculty are invited and are welcome to bring their lunch to the meeting. If you have questions or you want to be added to the reminder list for these events, please contact Tina Guldberg at \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tina.guldberg@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etina.guldberg@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u0027s Dr. Rick Cowan explains the benefits of studying tribology and offers details on GTMI\u0027s capabilities in this important field.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u0027s Dr. Rick Cowan explains the benefits of studying tribology and offers details on GTMI\u0027s capabilities in this important field."}],"uid":"27857","created_gmt":"2013-12-11 11:25:57","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:33","author":"Tracy Heath","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4096","name":"brown bag"},{"id":"81901","name":"GTMI"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"73871","name":"rick cowan"},{"id":"73861","name":"tribology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETracy Heath\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-5562\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tracy.heath@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etracy.heath@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tracy.heath@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}