Editorial

Citation

(2002), "Editorial", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 54 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2002.01854aaa.001

Editorial

In this our first issue of 2002 we are pleased to publish three pieces of work reflecting the widely differing fields currently being investigated.

Workers from Uludag University in Turkey present a paper reporting on their continuing research into hydrostatic bearing design. Their approach is the optimisation of several parameters at the same time and seems to move this research forward considerably. It will be very interesting to see how this develops both at Uludag University and other establishments working on the optimisation problem.

Coincidentally we are also pleased to include another piece of work from Turkey but this time from Sakarya University. Researchers here report on work done looking at the tribological properties of stainless steel when coated with products aimed at increasing hardness. Some interesting conclusions can be made from the results regarding the relationships between frictional coefficient, hardness and wear rate.

Our third paper reflects the increasing environmental concerns on the future use of cutting oils. Researchers at The University of Wolverhampton report on the current situation regarding various aspects of cutting oils use. The increasing difficulty and indeed cost of disposing of metal working fluids means that some significant changes are occurring in the way in which these products are used. Most readers will be aware of the improvements in recycling techniques but this paper also highlights the possibilities of dry cutting and the use of minimal quantities of fluid applied at the precisely required location. Different types of tools have also been introduced and what is clear is that all components in the metal cutting activity must be considered together. This paper provides a very useful introduction to the subject for readers and hopefully will provoke those working in this area to tell us of their successes.

Also included in this issue is an article from Bohlin Instruments describing the use of their equipment to determine the rheological properties of drilling muds. This should be of interest to those researching and developing widely different product types including greases.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and that you find the content useful. If you have a paper you would like publishing, please contact us as we would be happy to consider your article for publication.