How The Science Of Tribology Could Smooth The Way To A Better Energy System
The Fiction Of Nonfriction Ryan SnookFor manufacturers, less friction means more efficiency. In 1964, a lubrication expert named Peter Jost gathered with his colleagues at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in Cardiff, Wales, to discuss a vexing paradox. Factory machinery everywhere was producing more and better goods than ever before. But it was also failing at an increasing rate. The immediate problem was friction: Lubricants were breaking down, bearings were wearing out, metal components were cracking. The larger problem was that plant managers did little to reduce that friction. A little grease, a little tinkering, nothing more. Why? Jost and the other engineers decided the managers didn't know they needed help. Lubrication involved many disciplines-fluid dynamics, metallurgy, physics-and influenced every aspect of production, but most people overlooked it. So Jost set out to change the world's perspective. He invented a new name for a new discipline, tribology, from the Greek tribos, or...