Imagine if we don't have to service 20,000 pumps every year and a half. Pumps, compressors, generators, turbines, internal combustion engines and clutches are all part of what makes the world go 'round. And the speeds and temperatures at which these machines work make many of the components subject to failure. In some cases failure can be catastrophic, although in most it is just costly. Khonsari, who joined the department in March, is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.
Tribologists study friction, wear and lubrication.
He has been given numerous awards during his almost 20 years in the field and has served as a research faculty fellow at NASA Lewis Research Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force laboratories and the U.S. Department of Energy. Khonsari's specialty is bearings. But the limiting factor is temperature. Liquids become less viscous with higher temperatures, and the lubricating film between surfaces becomes thinner. If you can get things to run cooler, wear is minimized.