The Fraunhofer IWM, MikroTribologie Centrum, therefore makes lubricant properties calculable using atomistic methods and has recently published exciting findings on one of the central parameters, the pressure dependence of lubricant viscosity, in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.

In order to develop or improve a lubricant it is important to know its behavior exactly: Pressure, temperature, shear rate and viscosity are important parameters. "It is very difficult to measure the lubricant film experimentally because the conditions required for this are difficult to set in a controlled manner," explains Dr. Kerstin Falk, a member of the Multiscale Modeling and Tribosimulation group at the Freiburg Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM.

More Information: iwm.fraunhofer.de/press