They are particularly important in the boundary lubrication regime, where they can prevent solid surfaces from coming into direct contact, substantially reducing friction and wear.
[1] Reduction of frictional losses and through more efficient lubrication is a key target in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
[7] One approach has been to progressively reduce lubricant viscosity to minimize hydrodynamic shear, churning and pumping losses.
[1] However, this means that an increased number of components operate under boundary lubrication conditions.
For example, recent tribology experiments[8] and molecular dynamics simulations[9] have given new insights into their behaviour under boundary lubrication conditions.