Research areas                                                                                                                 

TribLab has a continuous research experience in the scientific field of metallic materials and their in-service performance in various environments.

Emphasis is placed on topics related to tribology and surface modification techniques aiming to components’ lifetime extension, metallic materials’ performance under mechanical loading and failure analysis. Indicative research areas include:

A. Identification of micro-phenomena taking place in engineering tribo-systems

• Surface topography influence on the evaluation of friction coefficient during sliding.

• Wear micro-mechanisms in stratified structures.

• Determination of composite coatings performance under surface loading.

B. Surface modification techniques for enhancement of metallic materials

• Surface cladding via conventional arc welding techniques.
• Elaboration of hardfacing layers on metallic surfaces via concentrated solar irradiation.
• Diffusion surface treatments of tool steels for enhancing their tribological performance (nitrocarburising) and their resistance to molten metals attack (boronising).
• Thermal Spraying techniques for depositing high-thickness ceramic coatings.
• Remelting via high power CO₂ laser, micromachining via pulsed excimer laser and surface cleaning via pulsed Nd:YAG laser of metallic surfaces.
• Physical and Chemical Vapour Deposition (PVD and CVD) of thin films.

C. Mechanical characterisation of engineering materials

• Conventional testing techniques (tensile/Charpy/creep/fatigue testing, hardness/ microhardness measurements).

• Non-conventional laser-based techniques for estimating adhesion strength of protective ceramic materials onto metallic substrates.

D. Failure Analysis of materials and engineering components during operation

• Experimental analysis of failed components, identification of dominant failure mechanisms and root cause analysis, components’ quality enhancement.

• Correlation of microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties to materials’ performance under various environmental conditions.

Ε. Funded projects initiated and implemented by TribLab during the last decade:

 

PROJECT TITLE	FUNDING AUTHORITY	YEAR
Concentrated Solar Energy for elaborating surface heterogeneous microstructures of high mechanical performance on common steels (2020)	EU HORIZON SFERA 3	2022
Concentrated Solar Energy for elaborating surface stainless steel claddings (2019)	EU HORIZON SFERA 3	2019, 2022
Anti-wear carbide-based coatings using concentrated solar energy (P1602050194)	EU FP7 SFERA II	2016
Anti-wear carbide-based coatings using concentrated solar energy (P1503060136)	EU FP7 SFERA II	2015
Advanced Materials for environmental – friendly applications	Greek Ministry of Education	2015
Anti-wear carbide-based coatings using concentrated solar energy (P1404300058)	EU FP7 SFERA II	2014