Welcome
Tribology Based Maintenance addresses subjects related to durability and reliability of grease lubricated bearings. The developed knowledge contributes to the development of life/reliability models used to predict maintenance intervals.
Our research focuses on lubricating grease performance. Grease is a semi-solid material with complex rheology (visco-elastic, shear thinning, thixotropic). Grease is made up of matrix-forming thickener (15%), lubricating oil and additives (85%). The competences applied in grease lubrication lie mainly in “Physics and Chemistry of Fluids” and “Mechanics of Solids”, positioned at the interface of tribology/lubrication, fluid/solid dynamics, and rheology. Model development is on “Elasto-Hydrodynamic Lubrication” and “Lubricating Grease Degradation”.
Our ultimate goal is to select lubricants such that rotating equipment will never fail or such that maintenance can be planned well before possible failures of bearings.
The SKF University Technology Centre (UTC) for Grease Lubrication is home to Tribology Based Maintenance research.