Tribology 101

Tribology is a study on friction, wear, adhesion and scratch resistance of moving interferences in contact. In other words, it is a study on movement of surface in contact with one another and the surroundings. The study also involve dissipation of energy (friction induces heat energy and etc.). Wear, being one of the sub-content of tribology is a study of useful life of a material or a part component of a machine. It is given by the equation:


Usp = Vloss / (FxD)

Usp = wear rate
Vloss = volumetric loss
F = force applied
D = total sliding distance

There are 4 types of wear, namely:
a)Abrasive wear
-Due to presence of hard/sharp particles between contacting surface (moving)

b)Adhesive wear
-Due to unsuitable lubrication or lubricant ran dry between moving surfaces in contact

c)Surface fatigue
-Due to repeated mechanical stress

d)Tribo-oxidation
-Tribological sliding causes chemical reaction, increase of temperature of contacting surfaces and oxidation

From the 4 types of wear mentioned above, wear is a study of useful life of components. The useful life of components here are components of a machine that experiences friction during operation. Friction causes loss of solid material on the contacting surface and this will reduces the integrity of the material. Thus, this is why friction and wear are mentioned concurrently since all 4 types of wear are caused by frictional problems.

Oh kecian my blog..

Kasihan kan my blog..kena abandon since February..bad blogger..bad blogger.. But then, I've been very busy in my final stage as a student.. My final semester, finall I'm getting my degree in engineering.. Hopefully it'll go well... Right now I'm looking for job here and there, but there are 2 places I have in mind..later la..if I get the job baru I mention..keep fingers crossed..

Well...yesterday was my final year project presentation..I think it went well eventhough the last few minutes I felt the itch on my throat, prompting me to coungh.. In the end my examiner said good job and interesting research, that is good enough for me.... Oh ya..lupa..I'm nursing my left ankle at the moment...yeah, something happened but it's more of injury due to last time punya activities... In the end, over exerting yourself in sports is not good eh.. my bones at my ankle area.the socket area or something...dah corrode...so the ..erm..duno how to story..cut story short... I need a surgery..just a small one..don't worry... It's been a while, so I'll stop here first...it's a very hot day....so malas type panjang story..till end..Cheers...

My updates...

I've been occupied beyond my imagination really..... and I've received some good news la... I've:

- got my results, didn't jadi Dewa but at least got above 3.0

- I'm working with GSSC at BDEWC Sejingkat Yard, in the latter stages of MEPA EPCIC project

So...busy la owh...Ahaks.....

Dewa?? Forget about it (but ada slim hope)..

Among my friends...we have this term of 'dewa'... An expression where we boast around saying we are better than you kinda stuff... My aim is to become one in this semester.. You see, my friends and I belong in this one type of group..'uras'... meaning we like to waste time, enjoy life and see the light in everything... So we're not exactly the type of people others want to mix with because we're simply time waster bla bla bla...

However, I want to be the first dewa among the uras..to to show to the smart asses that you can achieve good results even if you enjoy your life more than studying... Common, life is just too short to be overly 'skema'....

However, after my CFD paper yesterday.. the target is getting farther.. Unless the next 6 papers I get A- or A..baru can... So...I think I'll stop here and do some reading la..ahaks...

Already 2012...

I've been so caught up with my daily activities that I've failed to post something for Christmas and New Year...aiseh aiseh... I'm not gonna say I'm super busy and too occupied to maintain a blog (blog is for those with a lot of free time ba..), but at times I've lost some interest in posting new posts because the connection is very bad..

You see, I have lot's to share here but these new things must come with pictures and even videos...later you guys won't faham ba.... I tried a few times, even at my university but I guess it's just to hard to upload them with our quality of network connection...thus in the end I delay and delay some more and they never got posted here..nasib la... Check check dah 2012...


Putting 'past' issues aside, I am actually preparing for my exams now (I know some of you don't believe it la..) My first paper will be on the 7th January.. and the last one will be on the 16th January..then cuti Chinese New Year..and terus cuti for a month... I don't have such luxury though... I'll still have my CNY holidays but after that I'll be back with my final year project... Nevermind, I'll relax when others struggle next semester... Proof?? I started early this semester and even sacrificed my mid semester break for my project.... and I had the opportunity to actually watch squeeze their brains out for their project.... I'm not being mean, I'm just saying you'll enjoy more when you push yourself hard in the beginning..

Oh well... I'll just stop here and continue with my laundry and my light reading on CFD (I have no idea on what to study anyway...)... Cheers....

Taguchi and Quality in Manufacturing Industry

Quality is one of the most important aspects demanded from a product. Quality represents image and reliability of a manufacturing company, thus proves the importance for it to be stressed by the company. In manufacturing and quality engineering in general, the field quality itself could not sway from the name Genichi Taguchi. Taguchi contributed a lot in terms of quality in product and process design. Two of the important methods in quality engineering are robust design and loss function.

In robust design, Taguchi stresses that product and process should create a design that can avoid failure or product performance below specified standard. Meanwhile, Taguchi loss function stresses more on tolerance of design. This is because a product that performance outside the tolerance is considered loss in value and products must always perform within the desired tolerance.

These two ideologies are very important for production of a new product. Acceptance of a new product by consumers depends very much on the initial impression in terms of quality. Physiologically, it is very hard for a consumer to use a new product compared to using a product which the consumer has used before. If a consumer chooses to use a new product rather than an existing product, feedbacks will go very bad if the quality of the product is not good. In fact, quality level of a new product must be very high especially in the initial stage where it is still gaining acceptance from the society.