Triboemission as a Basic Part of the Boundary Friction Regime

This paper reviews selected phenomena related to the boundary friction process. The central thrust is on triboemission, defined as emission of electrons, charged particles, photons, etc., under conditions of boundary friction and/or surface damage caused by fracture processes. Low-energy electrons are one of the most important particle components in triboemission. Accordingly, the triboemission process is of particular significance for (i) the boundary friction process as such, and (ii) the tribochemistry of the boundary lubrication process. This review considers all the major issues of triboemission and related phenomena/processes. It is shown that, in the boundary lubrication regime with hydrocarbon lubricants, charge intensities decrease with an increase in lubricant molecular weight. The paper also includes some recent information concerning research on triboemission along with a newly developed apparatus.