MATLAB Applications on Tribology Data Analysis
Jose A. Morales, Ashlie Martini, PhD, Azhar Vellore, MD
Tribology is the science that studies friction, wear, and lubrication between moving surfaces. A key instrument within tribology, the tribometer, is essential in finding many important system properties, such as wear rate and coefficient of friction. A tribometer can provide accurate and precise information about the different system properties for a given material, which is very useful for learning how to optimize energy efficiency, resistance, and durability. Tribometers need a specific software designed to collect data from a test. The process consists of selecting a material and running the test with the tribometer. Next, all the information (depth, load, and friction) is sent to the software so that a graph can be displayed. However, the data displayed tends to be very noisy. Fortunately, by using MATLAB (a programming platform used for numerical analysis, etc.), all the data provided by the tribometer’s software can be processed to obtain a cleaner visualization of results after performing a test. All the information is uploaded to MATLAB, where it is processed to reduce the noise and simplify the correlation between the components in the graph. After completing the process, the MATLAB graph will show the generated results so that they can be analyzed and reported, allowing engineers to better determine the system properties of the material tested.
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