Current Industrial Activities of Tribology in China

A recent investigation of the industrial application of tribology in China is presented. This work is aimed mainly at finding out the current situation of industrial activities of tribology and proposing some recommendations with the emphasis on the energy and material savings in the process of manufacture and operation of machinery. Eight representative industries were selected as the investigated objects, namely metallurgical industry, energy (coal, electric power) and petrochemical industries, railway transport, automotive industry, agriculture machinery, shipping industry, aerospace industry and military equipment.

It was found that owing to application of tribology, the sum total of the estimated potential savings of the first 6 investigated objects above mentioned is 103.61 hundred million USD (according to the exchange rates in November 2006) per year. The first three contributors of savings are automotive industry, metallurgical industry and railway transport. Based on the above figure and the statistical data of value-added of industry of all industrial enterprises in China in 2006, the Chinese industrial enterprises can save 414.8 hundred million USD per year, namely, 1.55% of gross national product (GNP) in 2006.

On the basis of the investigation, a general view of the current industrial activities of tribology in China was obtained which has a practical significance for the international community of tribology, and some recommendations dealing with industrial application, research and education were made and delivered to the government departments concerned.

Finally, the author highlights the green tribology from the view point of ecological balance and sustained development. Green tribology is considered as an important way to propel the society forward sustainedly. It might be one of the key directions of technological progress of tribology in striding forward towards the new century.