Mechanically Driven Growth of Hydrocarbons at Sliding Interfaces to Control Degradation and Wear

尽管摩擦学一直是一个活跃的研究领域，但对摩擦和磨损过程的有限理解继续导致各种应用中使用的运动系统的失败。虽然目前通过沉积抗损伤涂层来保护表面的方法提供了临时解决方案，但最终涂层会降解和磨损。该奖项支持基础研究，以阐明如何通过原位补充保护涂层来逆转材料中的损坏。这项研究的见解将使修复损坏的表面，而不必拆卸整个机械系统。这项研究不仅将促进科学进步，而且还将提高机械部件组件的性能。它将为更可靠、更节能的运输和制造系统提供一种新的解决方案，其中表面修复将显着延长操作寿命。该奖项还将为材料科学，力学和表面科学领域的本科生和研究生提供新的教育机会，重点是招募和留住STEM学科的女性和少数民族。机械引起的表面降解对机械组件造成了严重的问题，并且是失去有用性的主要原因。在滑动界面的相对运动期间的高接触压力和剪切导致局部加热以及复杂的压缩。对于滑动接触中的材料的正确组合，这些条件可能诱发摩擦化学反应，导致直接在接触处形成保护膜。该项目的重点是了解浸入碳氢化合物环境中的催化金属界面的摩擦和磨损引起的变形，这会导致滑动表面上层状碳膜的原位生长。为了阐明材料的生长过程，本研究将结合联合收割机在宏观摩擦学测试过程中暴露于应力的表面的原位拉曼分析，与磨损轨迹横截面的电子显微镜后表征。表征数据将与薄膜的机械特性相关，以评估动态系统对所施加的机械应力的摩擦响应，并量化生长的薄膜在不同环境中的损伤容限。该研究还将调查摩擦催化活化的替代解决方案。该项目由工程理事会的土木、机械和制造创新部门以及化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部门共同支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Although tribology has been an active field of study, the limited understanding of friction and wear processes continues to lead to failure of the moving systems used in various applications. Although current approaches to protecting the surfaces by deposition of damage-resistant coatings provide temporary solutions, eventually the coatings degrade and wear off. This award supports fundamental research to elucidate how the damage in the materials can be reversed by in-situ replenishment of protective coatings. Insights from this study will enable repair of the damaged surfaces without having to disassemble the entire mechanical system. Not only will this research promote scientific advances, but it will also improve the performance of the mechanical part assemblies. It will provide a new solution to more reliable and energy-efficient transportation and manufacturing systems, in which repair of the surfaces will prolong the operation lifetimes significantly. This award will also offer new educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of materials science, mechanics, and surface science, with an emphasis on recruiting and retaining women and minorities in STEM disciplines. Mechanically induced surface degradation creates a significant problem for mechanical assemblies and is the major cause for the loss of usefulness. High-contact pressure and shear during relative movement of the sliding interfaces causes local heating and as well as complex compression. For a correct combination of materials in sliding contact, these conditions may induce tribochemical reactions leading to the formation of protective films directly at the contact. This project focuses on understanding the friction- and wear-induced deformation of catalytic metal interfaces immersed in a hydrocarbon environment, which causes an in-situ growth of layered carbon films on the sliding surface. To elucidate the material growth processes, this research will combine in-situ Raman analysis of the surfaces exposed to stresses during macroscale tribology tests, with electron microscopy post-characterization of the wear track cross-sections. The characterization data will be correlated with the mechanical characteristics of the films to evaluate the triboactive response of the dynamic system to the applied mechanical stresses, and to quantify the damage tolerance of the grown films in different environments. The research will also investigate alternative solutions to tribocatalysis activation.This project is jointly supported by the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovations Division and the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems Division in the Engineering Directorate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.