Elucidation of hydration lubrication mechanism in gel thin film

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03911
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design engineering/Machine functional elements/Tribology
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Itoh Shintaro 名古屋大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (50377826)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: レオロジー / ナノトライボロジー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An extremely low friction coefficient of 0.001 order is achieved in a living joint. This is a lubrication mechanism commonly found on the surface of the gel-like material, called hydration lubrication. In particular, in this research, we aim to realize hydration lubrication by gel thin film formed on arbitrary substrates. However, it is essential to elucidate the mechanism to establish the hydration lubrication as a new lubrication technology. Since the gel is a highly flexible material containing a large amount of water in the polymer, in order to understand its friction characteristic, it is necessary to determine its deformation at the time of sliding. Therefore, in this study, we realized simultaneous measurement of mechanical properties (shear viscoelasticity) and film deformation for the hydrated gel thin films.

Free Research Field

トライボロジー