Lubricant surface system for high performance transmissions

汽车传动系统的系统级自适应提高了整体效率，但代价是增加了啮合齿轮之间摩擦学接合处的寄生摩擦损失。摩擦损失降低了汽车传动系统及其运行车辆的效率。由于齿轮齿间接触的严重性，润滑剂添加剂和先进的表面涂层的作用变得至关重要。当前工作的重点是确定如何利用先进的表面涂层、表面精加工工艺和润滑剂相互作用来提高汽车变速器的能效。这项工作将通过实施一种新的实验方法来完成，该方法研究了表面形貌和多个长度尺度上的摩擦行为。这些测量将使用原子力显微镜、侧向力显微镜、光学干涉测量、摩擦测量和X射线光电子能谱进行。实验工作将通过使用分析模型来补充，这些模型将有助于解释在实验期间观察到的物理现象。这种新的方法允许识别有利的润滑剂表面组合以及确定该组合具有低摩擦损失的物理机制。通过了解高剪切、高温和高压摩擦学连接表面和润滑剂的依赖关系，这项研究在基础理解方面的发展将有助于改进表面和润滑剂的选择。

System level adaptations to automotive transmission systems have improved overall efficiency at the cost of increasing the parasitic frictional losses at the tribological conjunction between meshing gear teeth. Frictional losses detract from the efficiency of automotive transmission systems and the vehicles in which they operate. Due to the severity of the contact between the gear teeth the role of lubricant additives and advanced surface coatings has become critical. The focus of the current work is determining how advanced surface coatings, surface finishing procedures and lubricant interactions can be harnessed to improve energy efficiency of automotive transmissions. This work will be completed by conducting a novel experimental approach which investigates the surface topography and frictional behaviour across multiple length scales. The measurements will be conducted using atomic force microscopy, lateral force microscopy, optical interferometry, tribometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimental work will be complemented by the use of analytical models that will help elucidate the physical phenomena observed during the experimentation. This novel approach allows for identification of advantageous lubricant surface combinations and the physical mechanisms which determine the combination to have low frictional losses. The development in fundamental understanding generated by this research will enable improved selection of surfaces and lubricants for high shear, high temperature and high pressure tribological conjunctions by understanding their dependency.