In most tribological applications, liquid or grease based lubricants are used to facilitate the relative motion of solid bodies to minimize friction and wear between interacting surfaces. The challenges for liquid lubricants arise in extreme environmental conditions, such as very high or low temperatures, vacuum, radiation, and extreme contact pressure. At these conditions, solid lubricants may be the alternative choice which can help to decrease friction and wear without incorporating liquid lubricants. Challenges with solid lubricants are to maintain a continuous supply of solid lubricants on the contact surfaces to act as lubricous layer between two sliding surfaces. Such a continuous supply is more easily maintained in the case of liquid lubricants when compared to solid lubricants. The most innovative development to ensure a continuous supply of solid lubricant to the contact surface during sliding is to introduce solid lubricant as reinforcement into the matrix of one of the sliding components. Composite materials are engineered or naturally occurring materials which contain two or more distinct constituents with significantly different chemical, physical and mechanical properties. Composites consist of reinforcement and matrix (metal, polymer and ceramics). Among various reinforcements, recent emerging material, solid lubricant, is found to have many favorable attributes such as good lubrication property. Self‐lubrication is the ability of a material to provide lubrication to the contact surface to decrease friction and wear rate in the absence of an external lubricant by transferring embedded solid lubricants in the composite to the interface. Self-lubricating composites (SLCs) are an important category of engineering materials that are increasingly replacing a number of conventional materials in the automotive, aerospace, and marine industries due to superior tribological properties. In SLCs, solid lubricant materials, including carbonous materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) are embedded into the matrices as reinforcements to manufacture a novel material with attractive self-lubricating properties. Several studies have been investigated the tribological properties of self-lubricating materials. This book fills that gap to have a reference book about self-lubricating materials and their properties to help scientists, engineers, and industries. This book discusses mechanisms of self-lubricating materials, self-lubricating properties and the applications for industries. The chapters will be written by authoritative expertise in the field. Additionally, this book will demonstrate fundamental study and most advanced innovations in self-lubricating materials as regards to friction and wear. The chapters also include tribological properties of composites and coatings and some practical applications of self-lubricating materials.

Tribology and Applications of Self-Lubricating Materials provides insight into the complex mechanisms behind the development of self-lubricating materials, which due to their ability to transfer embedded solid lubricants to the contact surface to decrease wear rate and friction in the absence of an external lubricant, make up an important part of engineering materials used today. This book emphasizes an understanding of the tribological nature of different composites such as metal, polymer, and ceramic matrix composites and discusses the compatibility of these composites with specific lubricants. The book also offers a view of advancements in the development of self-lubricating mechanisms and covers the latest technologies in the field.

Smart Polymer Nanocomposites: Biomedical and Environmental Applications presents the latest information on smart polymers and their promising application in various fields, including their role in delivery systems for drugs, tissue engineering scaffolds, cell culture sports, bioseparation, and sensors or actuator systems. - Features detailed information on the preparation, characterization and applications of smart functional polymer composites - Covers a broad range of applications in both the biomedical and environmental engineering fields - Chapters are written by authors with diverse background expertise from the faculties of chemistry, engineering and the manufacturing industry

Solid Lubricants and Self-Lubricating Solids provides a concise treatment of solid lubricants and self-lubricating solids and their applications. These solid lubricants include graphite, molybdenum disulfide, plastics and thermoplastics, nylon, soft metals, fluorocarbons, and phenolics. Low-friction inorganic solids as well as miscellaneous inorganic compounds such as dichalcogenides and fluorides are also discussed. This book is comprised of 11 chapters and begins with an overview of some basic facts about friction and lubrication. The reader is then introduced to inorganic solid lubricants, their their crystal structure, advantages and disadvantages, and the forms in which they are most commonly used. The following chapters focus on the lubricating qualities of graphite, molybdenum disulfide, plastics and thermoplastics, nylon, soft metals, and fluorocarbons. Miscellaneous inorganic compounds with special applications involving friction and wear are also considered. The final chapter is devoted to phenolic laminates, their properties, and their mechanical applications such as gears and bearings. This monograph will be a useful resource for designers and operating engineers.

Tribology and Sustainability brings a vision of promoting a greener, cleaner and eco-friendly environment by highlighting sustainable solutions in tribology via the development of self-lubricating materials, green additives in lubricants, natural fibre-reinforced materials and biomimetic approaches. Backed by supporting schematic diagrams, data tables and illustrations for easy understanding, the book focuses on recent advancements in tribology and sustainability. Global sustainability and regional requirements are addressed through chapters on natural composites, green lubricants, biomedical systems and wind energy systems, with a dedicated chapter on a global sustainability scenario. FEATURES Highlights sustainability via new tribological approaches and how such methods are essential Covers the theoretical aspects of various tribological topics concerning mechanical and material designs for energy-efficient systems Includes practical global sustainability based on the regional requirements of tribological research and sustainable impact Reviews the tribology of green lubricants, green additives and lightweight materials Discusses topics related to biomimetics and biotribology Tribology and Sustainability will assist researchers, professionals and graduate students in tribology, surface engineering, mechanical design and materials engineering, including mechanical, aerospace, chemical and environmental engineering.

Providing a useful summary of current knowledge on the friction and wear properties of composite materials, this book fills the gap between publications on fundamental principles of tribology and those on the friction and wear behavior of metals and polymers. Detailed coverage is given of: the fundamental aspects of tribology in general and polymer composites in particular; the effects of the microstructure of composites on friction and wear behavior under different external loading conditions; and the problem of the control of friction and wear behavior in practical situations. Although emphasis is on polymer composites associated with bearing-type applications, part of the book is also devoted to the friction and wear of metal-based composites and rubber compounds. The data are represented in the form of 277 figures, diagrams and photographs, and 68 tables. The author index covers more than 670 references, and the subject index more than 1,000 keywords.The book will be of particular interest to: those involved in research on some aspects of polymer composites tribology (material scientists, physical chemists, mechanical engineers); those wishing to learn more methods for solving practical friction or wear problems (designers, engineers and technologists in industries, dealing with selection, reprocessing and application of polymer engineering materials); and teachers and students at universities.

The second edition of a bestseller, this book introduces tribology in a way that builds students’ knowledge and understanding. It includes expanded information on topics such as surface characterization as well as recent advances in the field. The book provides additional descriptions of common testing methods, including diagrams and surface texturing for enhanced lubrication, and more information on rolling element bearings. It also explores surface profile characterization and elastic plastic contact mechanics including wavy surface contact, rough surface contact models, friction and wear plowing models, and thermodynamic analysis of friction.