March 30, 2023
Keio University
National Institute of Technology, Sendai College
A research group consisting of Kazuki Yasuda (a second-year master's student) and Katsuhiro Endo (a second-year doctoral student at the time of the research) from the Graduate School of Science and Technology at Keio University, as well as Assistant Professor Yuki Kobayashi, Associate Professor Noriyoshi Arai, and Professor Kenji Yasuoka of the same university, and Associate Professor Kazuhiko Fujiwara, Professor Kuniaki Yajima, and the late Professor Yoshihiro Hayakawa of the National Institute of Technology, Sendai College, has successfully evaluated the frictional properties of multiple types of lubricants using a newly proposed method that combines machine learning and molecular dynamics simulations.
Lubricants are used to adhere to the interfaces of machine parts and reduce the friction that occurs there. It has been known that frictional properties change depending on the operating speed of machine parts. However, it has been difficult to comprehensively evaluate these frictional properties from a molecular dynamics perspective for lubricants with significantly different molecular structures. In this study, by analyzing the molecular motion of lubricants obtained from molecular dynamics simulations using a machine learning-based method, the research group identified molecular motions related to common frictional properties across different molecules. As this proposed method is a new technique that can easily and comprehensively evaluate the properties of various lubricants, it is expected to contribute to a wide range of industries that use lubricants.
The results of this research were published in the international journal " ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces " on January 30, 2023.
Please see below for the full press release.