Endurance testing and Tribology: validating the durability of your materials and components
What is tribology?
Tribology is the science that studies the phenomena of friction, wear and lubrication between two surfaces in relative contact. It involves analysing the damage mechanisms of materials subjected to various stresses. This damage can occur at the very core of the parts (plastic deformation, rupture, fatigue) or at their surface, under the effect of friction, wear, cracking and other tribological phenomena.
Test conditions can be particularly demanding: high pressures, high speeds, extreme temperatures, controlled humidity, under dynamic or static loads.
The work covers a wide variety of materials: metals, organic or metal matrix composites, ceramics, polymers and elastomers.
Why perform endurance and tribology testing
This discipline is crucial in many industrial sectors: it allows to optimize the design of parts, reduce energy losses, extend the life of components and improve the reliability of products subjected to repeated solicitations.
In harsh industrial environments (heat, pressure, repeated friction...), materials are subjected to stresses that can cause premature wear, deformation or rupture.
The tests make it possible to anticipate the damage mechanisms before placing them on the market or during their serial life.
Thanks to targeted tests (friction, fatigue, abrasion...), manufacturers can:
- optimize the geometries,
- select the right materials or coatings,
- adapt the operating conditions (lubrication, temperature...).
The result is more reliable, more durable and more efficient parts.
In certain sectors (automotive, medical, aeronautical...), endurance tests and tribological testing are required by regulations or by contractors to validate the conformity of a product before marketing.
When an incident occurs on a production line or during use (abnormal wear, detachment, heating...), the tests can reproduce the actual conditions of use to identify the origin of the problem and propose corrective solutions.
Les équipes R&D ont besoin de données concrètes pour valider leurs formulations ou assemblages.
Les essais tribologiques et d’endurance sont un accélérateur de développement, en fournissant des résultats quantifiables sur le comportement réel des matériaux.
The FILAB laboratory performs endurance testing - Tribology
Why choose FILAB for your endurance testing - tribology?
Thanks to high-level internal skills and tailor-made support, FILAB offers you solutions adapted to your problems.
The FILAB laboratory has a state-of-the-art analytical park and a qualified team, and supports manufacturers from any sector and size in surface analysis and endurance tests – tribology using analysis methods such as:
Our tribological testing services
Friction tests
Friction tests
Wear tests
Wear tests
Freight testing
Freight testing
Endurance tests
Endurance tests
Surface topography
Surface topography
Tribological behaviour studies
Tribological behaviour studies
Identification of surface damage (failure study)
Identification of surface damage (failure study)
To go further
An endurance testing consists of repeatedly or prolonged stressing of a material or component in order to simulate its behaviour under real conditions of use.
It allows the evaluation of durability, fatigue resistance, or even resistance to harsh environments (temperature, humidity, chemicals...).
- A mechanical test (traction, compression, flexion...) tests the overall properties of a material.
- A tribological test focuses on the surface of the material, and simulates real contact conditions (sliding, friction, wear...).
The two are complementary: one measures the resistance 'in the mass', the other analyzes what is happening 'on the surface'.
Carrying out this type of test allows above all to reduce the risks of product failure, by identifying critical points related to wear, fatigue or specific stresses in advance.
It is also a lever to improve the reliability and performance of your parts or materials, by validating their durability and behavior in real conditions of use.
These tests also allow you to optimize your material choices and surface treatments, by objectively comparing the performance according to the constraints of your application.
They contribute to accelerate the validation of new products, by providing tangible data to guide development, R&D iterations or qualification phases.
Finally, they meet the needs of regulatory or contractual compliance, by providing proof of robustness required by your clients or normative benchmarks.
