ASM Handbook, Volume 18, Friction, Lubrication and Wear Technology
Volume Chairman, Peter J. Blau
Because of the interdisciplinary
nature of tribology, the interests
of its practitioners in any one
country are often served by
several different professional
organizations. This is particularly
so in the USA, where both ASLE
(now STLE) and ASME have
published, or sponsored, multi-
authored volumes on the subject.
It is now the turn of the ASM
who, for the first time, devote a
complete volume of their
Handbook to tribology, although,
curiously, the word 'tribology'
does not appear in the title. The
result is a monumental tome; 114
authors have contributed 942
pages of approximately A4 size
covering more than 90 separate
topics. Most of the contributions
originate from the USA with
fewer than 15% coming from
elsewhere, mainly Germany, the
UK and Sweden. The volume
begins with a Glossary of Terms,
mainly derived from the well-
known OECD and ASTM
publications. The individual topics
then presented are divided into
seven main groups, each being
coordinated and introduced by an
internationally recognized
authority. These groups comprise:
Friction, Lubricants and
Lubrication, Wear, Laboratory
Characterization Techniques,
Friction and Wear of
Components, Materials, and
Surface Treatments and Coatings.
Each group is extensively sub-
divided into sections on specific
topics. The group on
Components, for example, covers
20 separate items, ranging from
dental materials to aircraft brakes,
while that on Laboratory
Characterization Techniques
covers 15 items including the most
recent developments of scanning
tunnelling and atomic force
microscopy. There is also a short
section on the Diagnosis of
Friction and Wear Test Data
A S M International, 1992, I S B N 0-87170-380-
7, 942 pp, $130
TRIBOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
dealing with the design of
experiments, data presentation
and reliability.
The stated aim of the volume is
to provide a resource for basic
concepts, testing methods,
materials selection and problem
diagnosis. In writing their
individual contributions, the
authors were asked by the volume
chairman to bear in mind the
question 'What information would
I like to have on my desk to help
me with friction, lubrication and
wear problems?' It therefore
seems appropriate to look at the
content of the book from the
same point of view. The overall
coverage of topics is impressive;
there seems to be something of
interest for almost everyone, from
research students to research
managers. There is also much
which could be of value to the
practising engineer. The inclusion
of a relatively large (130-page)
section on Laboratory
Characterization Techniques is a
distinct innovation in a tribology
book and is likely to be
particularly welcomed;
information on the advantages
and limitations of the wide range
of available techniques relevant to
tribology is seldom found
elsewhere in such a convenient
form. It is also valuable to have
included a section on the
calculation of contact
temperatures by frictional heating.
There will be little excuse in
future for authors of research
papers to invoke temperature-
related explanations of wear
phenomena without making some
attempt to calculate the
temperatures involved. The
section on Wear broadly classifies
the subject in terms of the
conditions of sliding; Wear by
Particles or Fluids, Wear by
Rolling, Sliding or Impact, and
Chemically Assisted Wear. The
more familiar terminology -
abrasion, erosion, adhesion, etc.
- is then introduced under these
general headings as and when
appropriate. The section ends
with descriptions of all the major
techniques currently in use for
wear monitoring.
While, inevitably, it has not been
possible to cover every single
aspect of tribology, the choice of
topics sometimes seems to have
been a little arbitrary. The
comprehensive section on
Materials is sufficiently up to date
to include metal matrix
composites but does not include
the commonly available polymers.
In fact, the only coverage of
polymers at all comes in what is
essentially a reprinted research
paper dealing with detailed
aspects of the behaviour of
thermoplastic composites. On a
related theme, the section on
Components does not cover
polymer-based dry bearings,
which are of considerable
importance in both the
automotive and aviation
industries; they are merely
mentioned superficially in
contributions concentrating on
other topics. There is also an
occasional wide disparity in the
space devoted to different topics.
The section on electrical contacts,
for example, is distinctly brief
(three pages) and does not
discuss the important industrial
problem of precious metal
connectors. In contrast, the
contribution on the friction and
wear of dies occupies almost 28
pages. One might also query the
necessity, in this day and age, for
including a table of temperature
conversions from Celsius to
Fahrenheit and vice versa. Pre-
programmed calculators will
provide such conversions in a
fraction of the time needed to
remove a book such as this from
its shelf and locate the relevant
table.
The above criticisms, however,
are all relatively minor and do not
seriously detract from the overall
appeal and value of the book.
The editors have, in general,
managed to achieve a high level
293
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of uniformity in the presentation
of all the diverse contributions.
The layout is attractive, with the
text well broken up by sub-
headings, and all the line
drawings and photographs are of
a high standard. In any reference
volume the Index is of critical
Rheological Techniques (Second Edition)
R. W. Whorlow
More than most subjects, the
science of rheology needs a
coherent, accessible and
authoritative presentation. It
impinges on the work of
engineers, chemists, biologists,
paint, polymer and food
technologists, and many others,
without being central to any of
these disciplines. This book may
fairly claim to fill this need. Many
engineers and scientists are likely
to have only one rheology
textbook in their personal library.
They should be tolerably well
informed on all aspects of the
subject and on the state of the art
in 1992 if that book is the volume
under review.
The subject has often suffered, at
least so far as this reviewer is
concerned, from an excess of
mathematics. In the present
volume the mathematical
treatment is clear and consistent
over the whole range, from the
derivation of the classical models
Ellis Horwood, 1992, ISBN 0-13-775370-5,
£60
Uses of Abrasives and Abrasive Tools
J. A. Borkowski and A. M. Szymaflski
This book presents a wide-ranging
survey of the technology of
abrasive machining, and
concentrates particularly on fixed
abrasive techniques such as
Ellis Horwood. 1992, 1SBN 0-13-932518-2,
hardbound, 281 pp, £55.00
294
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importance, and the present one
cannot easily be faulted; there are
at least 7000 separate entries.
Considering the scope and content
of the book, the price of $130
(about £93) would seem to be
very reasonable indeed. Purchase
is obviously a 'must' for all
to more difficult matters such as
the propagation of shear waves
and the determination of
distribution functions for creep
and relaxation.
The author discusses the
characteristics of the many
different types of tube and
rotational viscometers that form
the core of the instrumentation of
most rheology laboratories. The
treatment is sufficiently detailed
to act as effective guidance to the
reader choosing instruments for a
particular application. It is
followed by a discussion of a
quite different aspect of the
subject: the rheology of solids
subjected to various kinds of
deformation, extension,
compression, bending and shear.
This is relevant to the
understanding of such industrially
important processes as the
spinning of threads, the extrusion
of plastics and the rolling of
metals.
One quarter of the book is
devoted to the rather specialized
but important topic of the
dynamic behaviour of materials:
grinding. Its fourteen chapters
include fundamental discussions of
the properties of abrasive
materials, bonded grinding wheels
and coated abrasive tools, as well
as theoretical and practical
coverage of their use and
performance. Particular attention
is paid to methods of determining
technical libraries and deserves
very serious consideration for
private use also. I, for one, would
certainly appreciate having all this
information 'on my desk'.
J. K. Lancaster
their reaction to harmonic
variations in strain, free
vibrations, the propagation of
shear waves, resonant behaviour
of rods and the measurement of
impedance. Not the least valuable
feature of the book is the list of
840 references, which goes back
to the founding fathers of the
subject and includes such exotica
as 'Reynolds, O. (1903), The
Structure of the Universe'.
(Reynolds is always worth reading
in the original.)
One small criticism, which may be
a personal prejudice of this
reviewer, concerns the inclusion
of lists of manufacturers. These
are never comprehensive (the
present case is no exception) and
lower the tone of an otherwise
scholarly book.
As a definitive text and a valuable
source of references the book is
worth the rather high price of £60
and should retain its place in the
literature for many years to come.
M. A. Plint
and describing the quality of
abrasive tooling and to analysing
theoretically the processes of
abrasive machining; the behaviour
of both workpiece and tool is
treated in considerable detail. The
subject matter of this volume
should be of interest to
manufacturing engineers as well
1993 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 4