Tribology based research at UCT: some recent case studies

The Centre (formerly the Department of) for Materials Engineering has established relationships and long-term research programmes with producers and users of steels, polymers, and hard ceramic materials. The research focus in tribology in particular has been built around the academic strength of the late Professor Tony Ball. In this paper, selected examples and case studies in simulated tribo-testing are described, in which he was the principal researcher. The development and proper selection of material couples are taken from metals, ceramics and polymers to illustrate how a good and thorough understanding of the material and the environment has led to successful applications. Studies are selected from: