The paper compares topography, phase contrast and force spectroscopy in atomic force microscopy data for evaluating the microheterogeneity of surface layer. The worn surface of ion-plated TiN coating was measured using both a laboratory-built and a commercial AFM. The results of analysis revealed structural and micromechanical heterogeneity of the worn surfaces. We demonstrated that the phase image allows relatively qualitative estimation of elastic modulus of the sample surface. The tribolayer formed in the worn surface possessed much lower stiffness than the original coating. It is shown that the most stable phase imaging is provided with a stiff cantilever. In this case, phase contrast is well conditioned, first of all, by microheterogeneity of elastic properties of the investigated surfaces. In this study an attempt was also made to correlate the results of phase imaging with that of the farce spectroscopy. The joint analysis of information on the surface properties obtained by the phase imaging and quantitative data measured with the force spectroscopy methods allows a better understanding of the nature of the surface micromechanical heterogeneity.

Turbulence in journal bearing operation is examined and the thermal variability is studied for isothermal, convective and adiabatic conditions on the walls under aligned and misaligned conditions. Also, the effects of a contraction ratio at the cavitation region and the mixing between re-circulating oil and inlet oil on the fluid field of oil film are included. An algorithm for the solution of the coupled turbulent Reynolds and energy equations is used to examine the effects of the various factors. Heat convection is found to play only a small role in determining friction and load under no mixing condition. However, under realistic mixing condition, the heat convection cannot be ignored. The wall temperature and heat transfer have been found to be of secondary important factors to the mixing effectiveness at the groove and the final mixture temperature.

The surface roughness between a piston ring pack and a cylinder liner directly affects the fuel economy, the oil consumption, and the emission of the engine so that it is very important to clarify the surface roughness effects on the lubrication characteristics. The friction characteristics of the piston ring during engine operations are known to as mixed lubrication experimentally. In this study to simulate the effects of the surface roughness of the piston ring pack on the lubrication characteristics, the mixed lubrication analysis of piston rings was performed using the simplified average Reynolds equation. From the results the surface roughness was found be considerably affects minimum oil film thickness as well as FMEP(Friction Mean Effective Pressure). Especially, the oil ring was the most sensitive on the surface roughness.

The friction and wear behavior of MoS$_2$coatings was investigated using a pin and disk type tester. The experiment was conducted with silicon nitride as the pin material and MoS$_2$-on-bearing steel as the disk material under different operating conditions that included linear sliding velocities within a range of 2266 mm/sec, normal loads varying from 9.829.4 N, corresponding to maximum contact pressures of 1.782.83 Gpa, and high vacuum, medium vacuum, and ambient air atmospheric conditions. The results showed a low friction coefficient far the coating in a high vacuum, plus the friction coefficient and wear volume increased with an increased normal load. Furthermore, under high load conditions, the friction coefficient and wear volume also increased with an increased sliding velocity.

The thermal behaviors of disk-pad braking models has been analyzed for a high-speed train brake system using the coupled thermal-mechanical analysis technique. The temperature distribution, thermal distortion, and contact stress in the disk-pads contact model have been investigated as functions of the convective heat transfer rate. The FEM results indicate that multiple spot type pads show more stabilized thermal characteristics compared with those of the flat type pads for the increased convective heat transfer rate. The maximum contact stress for a friction pad loaded against a rubbing disk was occurred on the edge of the pad at the disk-pad interface.

Variable displacement axial piston pumps are widely used for raising the energy level of the fluid in hydraulic systems. And the regulator is the device which regulates the discharge flow of the piston pump by controlling the swivel angle. The regulator receives the hydraulic pilot pressure and controls the pump output flow depending on the machine load and engine speed. This work deals with constant power control (horsepower control) in the design of a regulator by using a bent-axis type piston pump. In order to effectively use engine power, we must keep the horsepower from the engine to the pump constant. Therefore the regulator operates the constant power control. As a result, optimum power usage is obtained by accurately following the power hyperbola. This study focused on developing a simulation model of a regulator. First, the governing equations of the regulator are derived, and analysis is performed by computer simulation, which can identify significant parameters of regulator. As a result, the variation of the swivel angle, flow rate, hyperbolic curve, inner leakage and responsibility are simulated, and significant parameters of a regulator are identified.

In case of the limitation of Deep RIE fabrication far Micro Gas Turbine, bearing aspect ratio is limited in very small value. The characteristics such as pressure distribution, load capacity and non-linearity of a short bearing of L/D=0.083 and a conventional bearing of L/D=1.0 with coupled boundary effects are investigated for Micro Gas Turbine bearings. The coupled effect was analyzed by mass conservation at coupled end area. The results, increasing load capacity and non-linearity due to the coupled effect of thrust and journal bearing, are obtained and the selection of journal bearing type is discussed.

The rotary-vane compressor has become one of the most successful types of compressors because of its mechanical reliability, compactness, and adaptability to moderately high-speed operation in virtually an unlimited range of sizes. However recently, the depletion of the ozone layer due to the current refrigerant(R22) has been getting worse, and it is one of the world's pressing issues. In this paper, we will discuss the use of R410a in the compressor of a room air-conditioner as an alternative refrigerant and air-conditioning system to R22, since R410a has greater refrigerant characteristics than R22. Miniaturization of the rotary compressor for the new refrigerant and air-conditioning system is also possible, which reduces the prime cost of production, hence R410a is naturally a better refrigerant. But to apply the new HFC refrigerant system in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, a significant redesign of the current refrigerant system is also required, because as the refrigeration changes, lubrication characteristics vary. Close attention must be paid to friction force and energy loss due to friction and wear at many sliding areas.