TRIBOLOGY IN MATERIALS PROCESSING

Friction and wear affect all processes involved in the extraction of m aterials and their conversion into finished products. Physical contact between tool, die, clamp or any other device that contacts the proces sed material is the basic cause of wear. Excessive friction imposes li mits on the efficiency of cutting tools, dies and many other equipment . Wear is a severe problem in the extraction and primary processing of raw materials and even the conveyance of raw materials from mine site to refinery imposes additional problems of wear. Therefore research a nd development into means of controlling friction and wear in material s processing is actively pursued by many research groups. The mast wel l established method to control friction and wear is by the applicatio n of lubricants. Although the development of solid and liquid lubrican ts has greatly advanced materials processing it still do not give an i deal performance. Lubricants also bring pollution and health hazards. Two types of substitutes for lubricants are being developed: advanced materials such as ceramics to replace metals for the construction of t ools, dies etc.; surface coatings to provide wear resistant and low fr iction coatings without the need for lubricants. Projected benefits fr om these newer technologies are low levels of friction and wear, econo my in the use of expensive hard metals, less pollution and toxicity ha zards. In this paper current developments into friction and wear contr ol in materials processing are reviewed.