The objective of this paper is to highlight the need to combine lifecycle environmental assessment with durability evaluation (tribology and engine tests) to evaluate the potential of surface technologies to contribute to the green deal, in order to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. Tribology is a scientific discipline that allows one to understand the system reaction to friction and wear. Tribological testing machines are prepared to measure friction at the laboratory level to minimize the wear and heat dissipation of two bodies in relative movement, thus improving the energy efficiency and minimizing CO₂ emissions. In this paper, different surface technologies, such as high-velocity oxyfuel (HVOF), physical vapor deposition (PVD), and clean Cr electrolytic processes, are analyzed as promising surface technology solutions from both performance and environmental impact perspectives to replace harmful Cr(VI) coatings. The tribology simulates the working conditions of the real system at the laboratory level, reproducing the failure mechanism and facilitating the laboratory screening of the energy efficiency and durability of materials solutions for certain tribological systems—in this case, engine components. The tribological test results give information about the behavior of materials, while the engine tests gives information about the behavior of components. In this paper, the environmental impact of the production process of the coatings is also analyzed. Two hard chrome processes are compared, demonstrating that by controlling the production process it is possible to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the chrome-plated process, minimizing the environmental impact to that of PVD coatings. The environmental impact of the tested HVOF process is lower than traditional Cr(VI)-plated coatings but higher than PVD coatings. Combining the information from the lifecycle assessment (LCA) and tribological studies, it is possible to assess both the performance and the environmental impact of the surface treatments. This methodology is a tool to that can be used minimize CO₂ emissions at the design phase to improve the energy efficiency of products and processes.

One of the most important factors in the LPDC process is the heat transfer during the solidification of the molten alloys, which is responsible for the resulting microstructure and, thus, the quality of the cast piece. The use of foundry coatings has been lately suggested as a proper strategy to control the heat transfer while protecting bonded moulds from aluminium adhesion by providing a barrier between the surface and the liquid metal. LPDC die coating failures usually come from the loss of adherence or excessive wear originated in the successive filling processes, which requires stopping production for the reapplication of the coating. In the present work, coatings with different insulation capabilities have been evaluated, in terms of adherence and wear tests, in order to select the most promising alternative for LPDC die coating. This study confirmed that surface preparation and cleanliness are vital for an adequate adhesion of the coatings to ensure their durability. The results evinced that the use of a primer layer provided a higher adhesion of the coatings and considerably improved their perfomance. The coating that presented the best results in terms of adhesion and wear resistance under different abrasive testing conditions was coating B3.

Authors: Xana Fernández-Pérez, Amaya Igartua, Roman Nevshupa, Patricio Zabala, Borja Zabala, Rolf Luther, Flavia Gili and Claudio Genovesio

This chapter describes a summary of the main tribological achievements carried out in TEKNIKER during the last 37 years. It covers the description of commercial and newly developed tribological test benches and case studies for a wide variety of applications. The examples refer to different tribological characterization tools for material selection (e.g., composition, surface treatments, lubricants). It makes emphasis in the failure mechanisms (pitting, scuffing, abrasion, adhesion, thermal fatigue, tribocorrosion, etc.) and friction simulation of a wide range of materials (seals, textiles, steels, cast iron, light alloys, ceramic, composites), tribological systems (mechanical components, biomaterials, tribolubrication), and environments (vacuum, ultrahigh vacuum, low or high temperature, and corrosive). A huge range of new testing equipment and protocols have been developed to simulate the mentioned failure mechanisms and working environments. This knowledge will make possible, in the future, to simulate at laboratory a still wider list of tribological systems and develop new standards. Tribology will help to implement materials solutions into energy and resource efficient products and process, to reduce carbon footprint.