MAE Speaker Series Seminar on The Fascinating World of Tribology – From Textured Surfaces to High-Performing 2D Materials for Aerospace Applications

13 Oct 2026 02.00 PM - 03.00 PM LT15 (North Spine, NS1-04-07) Current Students, Public

Professor Carsten Gachot

TU Wien, Vienna, Austria

This seminar will be chaired by Asst Prof Marvin Carl May.

Seminar Abstract

Tribology, the science of friction and wear, plays a critical role in the efficient, reliable, and sustainable operation of machines across industrial sectors. With 23% of global energy consumption attributed to tribological contacts, reducing frictional losses is increasingly important.

Conventional petroleum-based liquid lubricants face limitations due to resource depletion and the demand for operation under extreme conditions. Emerging 2D material coatings, including MXenes, Transition Metal Carbo Chalcogenides (TMCCs), and Black Phosphorus (BP), offer promising solutions for reducing friction and wear, although replenishment of solid lubricants remains challenging.

This talk will explore the combination of laser surface texturing with solid lubricants, where textured recesses act as reservoirs for lubrication on demand. Examples of novel 2D material coatings will be discussed in terms of energy savings, sustainability, and their potential for aerospace applications.

Speaker's Biography 

Carsten Gachot obtained his PhD from Saarland University in Germany in 2012. His research concentrated on the effects of laser interference patterning on the microstructure and topography of metallic surfaces, with a particular emphasis on tribological applications. This work was conducted under the guidance of Professors Dr. Frank Mücklich and Dr. Martin H. Müser. In acknowledgment of his significant contributions to the field, Dr. Gachot was honored with the European Honda Initiation Grant in 2011. Prof. Dr. Gachot has held the position of academic visitor in the tribology group at Imperial College London and currently serves as the head of the tribology research division at the Technical University of Vienna (TU WIEN). In addition, he is a visiting professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and holds the position of chief editor of the peer-reviewed journal "Industrial Lubrication and Tribology," which is published by Emerald Group Publishing in Leeds, United Kingdom. Furthermore, he is the associate editor of the journal "Friction" and serves as a member of the editorial board for the journals "Wear" and "Advanced Engineering Materials" (AEM).

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