ABSTRACT
Major developments in solid tribological materials include coatings with superlow friction and extreme hardness, providing very long wear life to sliding or rolling contact surfaces. Some of these novel coatings are now available for key industrial applications with high thermal/mechanical loadings and harsh tribological environments. Overall, the state-of-the-art in advanced material and coating technologies has now reached the point at which a tribocomponent can be fabricated from bulk ceramics or coated with a hard ceramic film to provide improved tribological performance and durability. Progress in solid lubricants and self-lubricating films (such as transition-metal dichalcogenides, diamond, diamond-like carbon, and composites) has led to significant improvements in the wear lives of bearings, gears, seals, and cutting tools that typically operate under severe tribological conditions. With recent advances in fabrication methods, the cost of these new tribomaterials and coatings has become very affordable.
