Calculations of the impact of friction and wear on energy consumption, economic expenditure, and CO₂ emissions are presented on a global scale. This impact study covers the four main energy consuming sectors: transportation, manufacturing, power generation, and residential. Previously published four case studies on passenger cars, trucks and buses, paper machines and the mining industry were included in our detailed calculations as reference data in our current analyses. The following can be concluded: In total, ~23% (119 EJ) of the world’s total energy consumption originates from tribological contacts. Of that 20% (103 EJ) is used to overcome friction and 3% (16 EJ) is used to remanufacture worn parts and spare equipment due to wear and wear-related failures. By taking advantage of the new surface, materials, and lubrication technologies for friction reduction and wear protection in vehicles, machinery and other equipment worldwide, energy losses due to friction and wear could potentially be reduced by 40% in the long term (15 years)and by 18% in the short term (8 years). On global scale, these savings would amount to 1.4% of the GDP annually and 8.7% of the total energy consumption in the long term. The largest short term energy savings are envisioned in transportation (25%) and in the power generation (20%) while the potential savings in the manufacturing and residential sectors are estimated to be ~10%. In the longer terms, the savings would be 55%, 40%, 25%, and 20%, respectively. Implementing advanced tribological technologies can also reduce the CO₂ emissions globally by as much as 1,460 MtCO₂ and result in 450,000 million Euros cost savings in the short term. In the longer term, the reduction can be 3,140 MtCO₂ and the cost savings 970,000 million Euros. Fifty years ago, wear and wear-related failures were a major concern for UK industry and their mitigation was considered to be the major contributor to potential economic savings by as much as 95% in ten years by the development and deployment of new tribological solutions. The corresponding estimated savings are today still of the same orders but the calculated contribution to cost reduction is about 74% by friction reduction and to 26% from better wear protection. Overall, wear appears to be more critical than friction as it may result in catastrophic failures and operational breakdowns that can adversely impact productivity and hence cost.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have proven to be an excellent thin film solution for reducing friction of tribological systems as well as providing resistance to wear. These characteristics yield greater efficiency and longer lifetimes of tribological contacts with respect to surface solutions targeting for example automotive applications. However, the route from discovery to deployment of DLC films has taken its time and still the design of these solutions is largely done on a trial-and-error basis. This results in challenges both in designing and optimizing DLC films for specific applications and limits the understanding, and subsequently exploitation, of many of the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for its favorable frictional response and high resistance to various types of wear. In current work multiscale modeling is utilized to study the friction and wear response of DLC thin films in dry and lubricated contacts. Atomic scale mechanisms responsible for friction due to interactions between the sliding surfaces and shearing of the amorphous carbon surface are utilized to establish frictional response for microstructure scale modeling of DLC to DLC surface contacts under dry and graphene lubricated conditions. Then at the coarser microstructural scale both structure of the multilayer, substrate and surface topography of the DLC coating are incorporated in studying of the behavior of the tribosystem. A fracture model is included to evaluate the nucleation and growth of wear damage leading either to loss of adhesion or failure of one of the film constituents. The results demonstrate the dependency of atomistic scale friction on film characteristics, particularly hybridization of bonding and tribochemistry. The microstructure scale modeling signifies the behavior of the film as a tribosystem, the various material properties and the surface topography interact to produce the explicitly modeled failure response. Ultimately, the work contributes towards establishing multiscale modeling capabilities to better understand and design novel DLC material solutions for various tribological applications.

The field of Tribology defined as the “science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion, that is friction, lubrication and wear” was introduced to the scientific community in a UK governmental report 1966. UK experts and scientists introduced this new approach to solve industrial problems in engineering design, material technology and lubricant chemistry to Finnish colleagues in the late 1970s. The foundation of the Finnish Society for Tribology 1977 boosted academic and technological activities in the area. Tribology as a topic was introduced in the Finnish universities. Investments were made in collaborative research activities with universities, research centers and industry involved. The international collaboration expanded and the Finnish tribologists initiated and started the 1^st NORDTRIB regional tribology conference series in Tampere 1984 and hosted the worldwide 5^th EUROTRIB International Tribology Congress in Helsinki 1989. The Finnish Journal of Tribology was established 1982. Large joint research activities were generated especially with the Nordic and European countries, Soviet Union and China. Internationally recognized top research groups were initiated and flourished in Tampere and Helsinki on the topics of abrasive, slurry-erosion and fretting wear; engineering ceramics; thin coating tribology; biotribology; computational modelling in tribology; and calculations on global economic and environmental impact of tribology. This article is modified from the report which the Finnish Society for Tribology contributed to the project “History of Science in Finland” by The Federation of the Finnish Learned Societies (Tieteellisten Seurain Valtuuskunta, TSV).