Voices in the US. 

Sustainable technologies place unusual demands on tribology testing, where loads, speeds, and lubrication regimes are often far from controlled or predictable. Dr Parker LaMascus has worked on understanding how antiwear coatings form and perform under these harsh conditions, particularly in applications such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. His work highlights the importance of benchtop methods that can move beyond single summary values and provide confidence that experimental results reflect real behaviour in action. 

Challenge 

Testing for sustainable technologies to mimic harsh conditions 

‘Emerging sustainable technologies often operate in harsh tribological environments – for example, the gears in a wind turbine operate under unpredictable loads, while the gears of an electric vehicle run at high speeds with ultralow viscosity lubricants. I study metal oxide antiwear coatings that form in gears or bearings at the points of contact, extending part lifetimes in these harsh regimes. But for our tribocoatings to make an impact on these sustainable applications, we need scientifically rigorous, practical benchtop methods that mimic the real-life conditions. PCS machines have a robust operating range for our use cases, but more importantly, the tool allows our team confidence that our results are repeatable and scientifically sound.’ 

Solution 

PCS machines helped empower testing 

‘PCS was the right partner for this project because we needed more information than a simple wear value or average friction. Time evolution mattered, and so did the thickness of our antiwear tribocoatings. The PCS MTM2-SLIM provided that information. In the process, I learned just how scientifically valuable it can be to have multiple streams of data from a single experiment. 

Impact 

PCS machines helped empower testing 

‘After one Tribology Letters publication in 2020 and another in 2022, our team is still researching the ability of dispersed metal oxide nanocrystals to form antiwear tribocoatings. Every mystery solved seems to uncover two more! We are excited to continue work on this scientific and environmental challenge, and a big part of that is our confidence in the PCS machines in our suite of research tools.’ 

Outro 

Parker’s experience reflects a broader challenge in applied tribology: generating data that researchers can trust when translating results from the lab to real systems. Access to realistic test conditions, richer experimental insight, and repeatable methods plays a critical role in building that confidence. PCS Instruments works with researchers facing these challenges to support experimental approaches that better connect benchtop testing with real-world performance.