Tribology and self-organization in reducing friction: A brief review

The review summarises basic tribological concepts for the stability, sustainability and life of the contact systems, highlighting the idea that tribological processes are most easily manipulated through the contact and the third body. If the original contact pair does not possess a specially inserted intermediate layer between the two interacting bodies, a secondary protective film forms, self-organized in the course of the friction processes themselves to keep the sustainability of the system. The ambition of tribology is to control friction and wear of the contact: either to find the optimal material to be placed in contact, or to predict events and phenomena stimulating the emergence of its own protective layer. A short overview is done of the ways for obtaining very low friction and wear by applying the principles of self-organization and green tribology, such as the selective transfer of material between the contact surfaces and the superlubricity phenomena. Keywords: complexity, synergy, friction, self-organization, selective material transfer, superlubricity.