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Wheel hubs with drum brakes of heavy-duty vehicles rarely broke, but some suddenly cracked in the 2000s. The cause of damage was said to be a lack of hub strength. However, the case was suspicious because the hubs were produced according to the design guidelines by the JSAE. In the 1990s, brake shoe-lining materials were changed from asbestos to non-asbestos for people’s health. The brake squeal and abnormal self-lock frequently occurred because of the increased friction coefficient between drum and shoe lining in the case of the leading–trailing type. The mechanical friction coefficient changes with the material and the contact angle, which varies with the wear of shoe lining and the drum temperature. In the previous report, the deformation of the wheel hub under the abnormal self-lock was verified by observing the change of hub attitude in model test equipment.

Regarding the solution for various issues on engine tribology, in order to understand the involvement of temperature in the friction and scuffing under the mixed and/or boundary lubrication regime, the two cases of piston ring & cylinder liner and cam & tappet were analytically studied. The friction between sliding interfaces is composed of four shear stresses from the viscous oil-films, the adsorbed oil molecules, the tribofilms due to oil additives, and the true metal contacts on surface asperities. Since all the shear stress have exponential temperature dependences, the relationship between the frictional shear stress and temperature is assumed to be expressed by the Arrhenius equation. Through analyzing friction data measured in laboratory tests conducted under the same temperature and sliding conditions as during the break-in of engines, various levels of temperature involvement were clarified.

It is effective in engine fuel economy to reduce the viscous friction by applying lubricating oil with low viscosity. The lower viscosity such as SAE0W20, however, increase lubricating oil consumption, LOC. In addition, it has become urgent to reduce the LOC because the emission of the sulfide ash, phosphorous and sulfur contents degrades the diesel particulate filter and the de-NOx catalyst, in addition to which the emission of metal oxide contents from oil additives can cause pre-ignition in highly supercharged spark ignition engines. In order to clarify the LOC mechanism of low viscosity oils, the LOC rates were measured with a supercharged diesel engine under various operating conditions when lubricated with SAE30 or SAE10W30 test oil, and the resulting data have been compared with the rates of the evaporation from the oil-film on the cylinder wall, LOE, as predicted by the devised analysis method for multi-species component oils.

There is considerable pressure to reduce particulate matters, nitrogen oxides and other toxic substances in the emissions of internal combustion engines. In order to protect particulate filters and de-NOx catalysts in the exhaust gas flow, designers have sought to reduce sulfated ash, phosphorous and sulphur (SAPS) in lubricating oils. Also, the drive to reduce energy consumption has seen the reduction of oil viscosities. This paper examines the way viscosity and volatility influence lubricating oil consumption (LOC).

In order to improve the performance of a reciprocating engine by reducing friction loss the authors have studied some characteristics of total friction loss of engine, friction of piston assembly and friction of cam / follower. Firstly, the total friction loss is accurately measured by a convenient engine run-out method to examine the change of total friction mean effective pressure with engine speed, load rate and oil temperature in a fired and braked engine. The influence of piston / cylinder assembly exchange from the worn to the unworn on friction is then examined, followed by the difference of friction loss between SAE30 and SAE10W-30 engine oils. Secondly, the cyclic change of piston assembly friction under the firing condition is measured by an improved floating liner method. Also, the friction characteristics of piston rings are investigated by comparing results with the theoretical values predicted in the mixed lubrication regime under the oil starvation condition.

We have developed a tappet with a cam lobe contacting tip made of a hard sintered material whose base material is cobalt, which adheres less to the steel of camshafts, and which also contains fine particles of tungsten carbide and chrome carbide. We have established a new evaluation method to access wear resistance performance of the tappet. It enables us to measure directly the friction force generated between the cam lobe and tappet and to evaluate anti-scuffing performance with high accuracy because we can clarify the time, load and cam angle at which scuffing occures.