Tribology and Interfaces

Surface and Interface Science: Studies on surface properties, interfacial interactions, and related phenomena, including adhesion, friction, wear, and catalytic reactions occurring at contact interfaces in relative motion.

Surface Engineering: Research on surface modification, coating technologies, and advanced treatments designed to improve wear resistance, lubrication, corrosion protection, and overall surface performance in tribological systems.

Tribo-Fatigue and Tribo-Fretting: Studies on the coupled effects of friction, wear, and cyclic or vibrational loading on material degradation and failure. This includes experimental, analytical, and computational investigations of tribo-fatigue and tribo-fretting mechanisms, contact damage evolution, crack initiation and propagation, and strategies to enhance fatigue and fretting resistance in engineering materials and components.

Material Tribology: Exploration of the tribological behavior and wear mechanisms of metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and advanced materials

Biological Tribology: Studies on friction, wear, and lubrication in biological systems; tribological behavior of biomaterials and tissues; and biomimetic tribology approaches for medical and engineering applications.

Nanotribology: Research on friction, adhesion, wear, and lubrication phenomena at the nanoscale. This includes the study of nanomaterials, thin films, surface forces, and interfacial behavior under nanoscale contacts, as well as the development of nanolubrication strategies and advanced experimental or computational techniques to understand nanoscale tribological mechanisms.

Machine Learning and AI in Tribology: Application of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data-driven modeling to predict, optimize, and understand tribological behaviors across scales. This includes the use of AI for materials design, friction and wear prediction, surface characterization, and the development of intelligent lubrication and maintenance strategies for engineering systems.

Fluid Tribology: Work involving fluid lubrication theory, rheological properties of lubricants, and the design and optimization of fluid lubrication systems for improved friction and wear performance.

Basic Theory of Tribology: Fundamental studies addressing the physical principles, analytical and computational models, and mathematical frameworks underlying friction, wear, and lubrication phenomena.

Triboelectricity and Contact Electrification: Research on the influence and generation of electrical current and charge transfer during tribological interactions, with a focus on fundamental studies addressing the physical principles, analytical and computational models, and mathematical frameworks.

Interdisciplinary Research: Cross-disciplinary studies integrating tribology with materials science, nanotechnology, chemistry, surface physics, data science, and biomedical engineering to develop novel interfaces and advanced functional materials.