SURFACE ENGINEERING OF NANOMATERIALS

Lecture 02: Friction Tribology

Dr. Kaushik Pal
Associate Professor
Dept. of Mech. & Indl. Engg.
Joint faculty: Centre of Nanotechnology
Introduction:
 Friction is the tangential resistance to motion.

 Occurrence of friction is a part of everyday life and it has both merits and demerits.

 Various attempts have been made to reduce it by lubricating surfaces with oil or
greases and changing design so that sliding can be reduced).

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 • Friction is not itself a fundamental force but it arises
from interatomic and intermolecular resistance
forces between the two contacting surfaces.

• There are also “contaminants” at the interface which

increase the friction.

Also, friction creates barrier in movement of

aeroplanes as the particles in air resist motion.

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Main Cause:
When objects touch there are forces between them. It is a resistive force between object
and its surrounding.

Resistance comes into play due to:

Friction force strength also depends on type of surface, as rough surface offer more
friction than smooth surface.

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Friction Fundamentals: Metal Coefficient
The Coefficient of Friction (COF) of Friction
It is value which shows relationship between Aluminium 1.5
force of friction and normal force between Copper 1.5
two objects. It is denoted by µ.
Gold 2.5
F=µN
𝐹
µ = 𝑁 = “COF” Iron 1.2
F = friction force; N= normal force Platinum 3
µ depends on chemical composition, • µ is a non-linear function of N.
environment and hardness.
• As N increases coefficient of friction
decreases.

• Contact area increases which causes

easier sliding.
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 Case 2: (Friction : static, kinetic)
Static and Kinetic Friction:
fS max = µsN = µs mgcosθ

Fnet > fS max

(-mg sinθ) > µs mgcosθ

ΣFx = -mg sinθ + µk mgcosθ = ma

Case 1: (No Friction)
a = g (µkcosθ – sin θ)
ΣFy= 0
Put, a = 0
N = mg cosθ
𝑚𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛θ
µk =
𝑚𝑔𝑐𝑜𝑠θ
ΣFx = -mg sinθ = ma
µk = tan θ
a = -g sinθ
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Rolling Friction

W r (radius of rolling)

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Fluid friction:
It is the force which resists the motion of object when it moves through liquid or gas.

All gases and liquids are fluids.

This resistance to flow is also termed as “viscosity”.

The resistance varies from layer to layer in a fluid flow.

This velocity variation is termed as velocity gradient (Δv).
Δ𝑢
Δv = , Δ u is velocity difference between the layers
Δ𝑦
and Δy is distance between the layers.

Fluid friction in a fluid along area A is given by:

F = µ A Δv
µ is the constant called coefficient of dynamic friction

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Friction of Materials:
The friction of materials depends on mating material,
operating conditions and surface preparation. It is also
influenced by material properties and environmental
effects influencing surface chemistry of material.

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Methods to control friction:
Controlling friction is an important parameter for smooth function of machines
and improving their life. Various methods can be used for this :

 Add lubricant for smooth functioning.

 Replace rolling with sliding since rolling friction is low.

 Smooth the surface as rough surface provide more friction.

 Put ball bearings in wheel.

 Use of nanofillers to control friction.

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Surface Engineering Done to Control Friction:
Surface engineering processes are carried out to control friction and change the physical and
chemical properties of material. This can be done by coating.

Different methods of surface engineering are:

1. Thin Film Coating:

This technology is applied in various fields like

semiconductors, solar cells, flat panel displays, bio-
medical, mechanics, etc. CVD and PVD processes are
used to carry out this coating process.

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2. Sputtering Deposition Process:
In this process, the coating material is ejected from solid surface by
bombardment of high energy particles.

3. Thermal Spraying:
This is most versatile technique for application of protective coating.
Applications of thermal spraying by super jet process are observed while joining
metallic components, surfacing or overlaying operations, etc.

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Nanotechnology and Friction Tribology:
 Though friction tribology is an old concept, but recent developments in nanotechnology
and nanoscience helps us to investigate friction on nanometre scale.

 Scanning probe microscopies (STM, AFM, FFM and LFM) along with specific friction
research equipment's (surface-force apparatus and quartz crystal microbalances) help
scientists to investigate atomic-scale friction and control the surface properties of nanoscale
structures.

 Use of nanofillers also improve friction properties. Some researchers carried out studies of
graphene and polystyrene functionalized graphene filled phenolic composite and observed
reduction in coefficient of friction because of self-lubricating properties of graphene.

 Zero dimensional nanomaterials are applied in lubricants to reduce friction.

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 Summary:
 Friction comes into play whenever two surfaces are in contact.

 Friction is gaining importance in many engineering fields like transportation (automobile brakes, rail
adhesion and road slipperiness), measurement and household usage like matchsticks.

 Friction arises due to adhesion and deformation.

 It is typically characterized by a coefficient of friction which is the ratio of the frictional resistance force to
the normal force which presses the surfaces together.

 Various types of frictional force exist like rolling friction, fluid friction, static friction, kinetic friction, etc.

 Surface engineering process are carried out to control friction and change physical and chemical
properties.

 Nanomaterials are used as fillers in different materials as they improve the friction properties because of
their self- lubricating properties.
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