GREEN TRIBOLOGY: WEAR EVALUATION METHODS FOR SUSTAINABILITY PURPOSES

A sustainable development of machines, mechanisms and processes is one of the main goals of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Currently, approximately 23% of the global energy consumption depends on inefficient performance of the tribological contacts. Particularly, about 20% of the energy loss is due to friction issues, and the remaining part is employed to remake and replace worn parts or to fix other wear-related failures. Green tribology is a crucial discipline for enhancing sustainability, because it is oriented at minimizing friction and wear phenomena. Therefore, wear evaluation is a fundamental starting point for designing new production or diagnostic techniques oriented to sustainability. In the industrial field this allows the optimization of design and processes, leading to reduction of pollution, minimization of energy dissipation and costs (SDG9, SDG12). In the field of human life, this can give a strong contribution to prevent damages, extending resistance and useful life of natural or prosthetic biocomponents, with an improvement of health and better life generation (SDG3). This paper presents and discusses various wear evaluation methods and related workflows with different purposes and benefits for sustainability. Some case studies demonstrate that wear evaluation substantially contributes at creating sustainable products and applications.