Tribology, Lubrication & Coating Laboratory

TLCL was established over 15 years ago and has been funded by grants totaling over $1 million by Platinum Research Organization and The Texas Higher Education Coordination Board, Boeing Corporation, Lubrizol Corporation, Ford Motor Company etc. There have been several major initiatives within TLCL that include:

  • Development of High performance low phosphorous engine oils: The goal of the project has been to develop engine oils that are low in phosphorous and yet maintain their high anti wear performance. The outcome of the project would result in better fuel economy and lower emissions
  • Development of high performance universal greases: The goal of this project has been to develop low MoS2 greases that have improved low load wear performance while still retaining its extreme load carrying capacity
  • Development of conformal large area fluorinated hydrocarbon coatings: A new method for coating large areas with PTFE using a catalyst to enhance the deposition of PTFE at low temperatures was developed. Applications include: low friction coatings for anti-icing applications, anti-corrosion coatings, low friction and wear coatings for MEMS applications.
  • Results developed from ongoing research has resulted in 12 patent applications with the US Patent office and over 30 publications.

Personnel

Pranesh B. Aswath, Ph.D. Professor and Vice Provost

Collaborators

  • Ali Erdemir, Ph.D. Argonne National Lab, Chicago, IL
  • Nicole Doerr, Ph.D. AC2T GmBH, Austria,
  • Arup Gangopadhyay, Ph.D., Ford Motor Company
  • Fabrice Dassenoy, Ph.D., Ecole Centrale, Lyon
  • Richard Timmons, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Chemistry, UTA

Funding

  • Platinum Research Organization (TX)
  • Texas Higher Education Coordination Board
  • Ford Motor Company
  • Boeing
  • Lubrizol Corporation
  • Vanderbilt Corporation

Current Graduate students

  • Mr. Vinay Sharma (Ph.D. Student)
  • Ms. Kimaya Vyvahare (Ph.D. Student)

Alumni of Group

  • Dr. Vibhu Sharma (Intel Corporation)
  • Dr. BoHoon Kim (CalTec Corporation)
  • Dr. Mihir Kumar Patel (Chevron)
  • Ms. Hansika Parekh (Ingenia Polymers)
  • Ms. Arunya Suresh (MBA Candidates)
  • Mr. Kush Shah (Karma Automobiles)
  • Mr. Sujay Bagi (Ph.D. Student MIT)
  • Ms. Beibei Wang (Ph.D. student, UC Davis)
  • Mr. Tonye Adeogba (Tesla Corp)
  • Mr. Pradip Pichumani (Global Foundries)
  • Mr. Olusanmi Aderniran (Schaffler)
  • Dr. Zahedul Hug (Eaton Corp)
  • Dr. Gabi Nehme (Associate. Prof. Balamad University)
  • Dr. Ramoun Mourhatch (Oronite Corporation)
  • Dr. Anuradha Somayaji
  • Mr. Sunit Munot (Independent Business)
  • Mr. Krupal Patel (Independent Business)
  • Ms. Kajal Parekh (Munzig)
  • Mr. Hiroshi Ito (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
  • Mr. Joonas Ponkala (Nokia)

Tribology Testing Equipment

  • Plint Ball on Cylinder Test Setup
  • Plint TE 92 Instrumented 4 Ball test rig.
  • Plint TE 77 HFRR Tester.
  • Instrumented In house developed Ball on Cylinder tester for Lubrication Testing
  • Instrumented Ring on Block and Ring on Cylinder tester for Grease testing

Selected Publications

  • BoHoon Kim, Vinay Sharma and Pranesh B. Aswath, “Chemical and Mechanistic Interpretation of Thermal Films formed by Dithiophosphates using XANES” Accepted for Publication, Tribology International, March 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2017.04.014
  • Vibhu Sharma, Dairene Uy, Arup Gangopadhyay, Ann O’Neill, William Paxton, Alex Sammut, Monika A Ford and Pranesh B. Aswath, “Structure and Chemistry of Crankcase and Exhaust Soot Extracted from Diesel Engines” Carbon, 103, pp, 327-338, March 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2016.03.024
  • Vibhu Sharma, Nicole Doerr, Pranesh B. Aswath “Chemical-Mechanical Properties of Tribofilms and its Relationship to Ionic Liquid Chemistry” Royal Society of Chemistry-Advances, 6(27), pp. 22341-22358, 2016, DOI: 10.1039/C6RA01915C
  • Piyush Chandra Verma, Rodica Ciudin, Andrea Bonfanti, Pranesh Aswath, Giovanni Straffelini and Stefano Gialanella, “Role of Friction Layer in the High Temperature Pin-on-Disc Study of a Brake Material”. Wear, 346-347, pp. 56-65, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2015.11.004
  • Vibhu Sharma, Sujay Bagi, Mihir Patel, Olusanmi Adeniran and Pranesh B. Aswath, “Influence of Engine Age on Morphology and Chemistry of Diesel Soot Extracted from Crankcase Oil” ACS-Energy and Fuels, 30(3), pp. 2275-2284, 2016.DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b02512
  • Vibhu Sharma, Nicole Doerr, Ali Erdemir and Pranesh B. Aswath “Interaction of phosphonium ionic liquids with borate esters at tribological interfaces” Royal Society of Chemistry-Advances, 6(58), pp. 53148-53161. 2016.DOI: 10.1039/C6RA11822D
  • Sujay Bagi, Vibhu Sharma, Mihir Patel and Pranesh Aswath, “Effect of Diesel Soot Composition and Accumulated Vehicle Mileage on Soot Oxidation Characteristics”, ACS Energy and Fuels, 30(10), 8479-8490, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b01304
  • Sujay Bagi and Pranesh B. Aswath “Mechanism of Friction and Wear in MoS2 and ZDDP/F-PTFE Greases under Spectrum Loading Conditions”, Lubricants, 3, 687-711, 2015. doi:10.3390/lubricants3040687.
  • Vibhu Sharma, Christoph Gabler, Nicole Doerr and Pranesh B. Aswath “ Mechanism of Tribofilm Formation with Ionic Liquids Containing P and S”, Tribology International, 92, December 2015, pp. 353-364 . DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2015.07.009
  • Vibhu Sharma, Ali Erdemir and Pranesh B. Aswath, “An Analytical Study of Tribofilms Generated by the Interaction of Ashless Anti-wear Additives with ZDDP using XANES and Nano-indentation” Tribology International. 82(A), Feb. 2015, pp. 43-57. DOI:10.1016/j.triboint.2014.09.019
  • Mihir Patel and Pranesh B. Aswath, “Role of Thermal, Mechanical and Oxidizing Treatments on the Structure and Chemistry of Carbon Black and its Impact on Wear and Friction: Part I: Extreme Pressure Condition” Tribology: Materials Surfaces and Interfaces, 9(1), March 2015, pp. 1-18, 2015, DOI: 10.1179/1751584X14Y.0000000086
  • Mihir Patel and Pranesh B. Aswath, “Role of Thermal, Mechanical and Oxidizing Treatments on the Structure and Chemistry of Carbon Black and its Impact on Wear and Friction: Part II: Boundary Lubrication” Tribology: Surfaces and Interfaces, 9(1), March 2015, pp. 19-32, 2015, DOI: 10.1179/1751584X14Y.0000000087

Facilities and Equipment

Tribology Testing

  • Plint Ball on Cylinder Test Setup
  • Instrumented In house developed Ball on Cylinder tester for Lubrication Testing
  • Instrumented Ring on Block and Ring on Cylinder tester for Grease testing
  • Instrumented High Frequency Reciprocating Rig

Processing

  • High speed homogenized for colloidal processing
  • Low speed high torque mixer to create dispersions

Characterization

  • MAHR Perthometer stylus profilometer
  • Leco Microhardness tester
  • Perkin Elmer DSC-7, TGA-7 Thermal analysis system.
  • Steromciroscope with high resolution camera.