In addition to the intensive training of students, we conduct application-oriented research and development. The Mannheim Tribology Competence Center has thus become an important partner for companies working in this field as well as numerous users in mechanical engineering and the automotive industry.

Research focus of the KTM

• Investigation of lubricants (oils, greases, solids) and additives (especially Extreme-Pressure, Anti-Wear, Anti-Oxidation).
  Focus: Lubricating effect of greases especially in areas of e-mobility.
• Investigation of the friction and wear behavior of material pairings (metals, plastics, composites) for maintenance-free bearing arrangements.
  Focus: Sliding bearings under boundary and mixed friction conditions.
• Investigation and further development of surface coatings (thin films and bonded coatings, anti-friction coatings).
• Design and construction of novel mechanical-dynamic test rigs for model and component investigations as well as development of application-oriented tribological test methods and screening tests.
  Focus: Test benches and methods for e-mobility (high speed, electrical characteristics, noise)
• Use of machine learning / supervised learning in the field of tribology
  Focus: Provision of “good” data incl. “Labelling”; use of novel sensor technology; industrial applicability.
• Investigation of damage cases from practice and derivation of optimization recommendations.

Current projects

At the moment, numerous projects are being worked on or are in the planning stage. In addition to publicly funded projects, much research and development work is carried out under bilateral contracts, so the topics and content can only be roughly outlined here:

• Effect of additives in lubricants
• Friction- and wear-reducing thin-film coatings and bonded coatings (anti-friction coatings)
• Low-friction and low-maintenance sliding couples
• Improvement of the static friction behavior and the noise behavior of plastics
• Formation and avoidance of standstill markings in rolling bearings (false brinelling)
• Avoidance of fretting corrosion / tribooxidation under fretting conditions (micromovements)
• Water-based lubricants for cooling/lubrication applications