
26 November 2019
Four prestige projects for machine elements
Three researchers from the subject in machine elements, Professor Andreas Almqvist, Associate Professor Yijun Shi and researcher Liwen Mu, have been awarded grants for four new research projects from the Swedish Research Council and Formas.
"It's a lot of prestige to get funding from the Swedish Research Council and Formas, so this means a lot to us," says Roland Larsson, Professor and Head of Subject, Chaired Professor in machine elements.
The project Multiscale topological optimisation for lower friction, less wear and leakage focusses the research on bearings and seals, and the aim is to enable development of topologically optimised design that minimises friction, wear and leakage.
"What is groundbreaking with this project, is that we set out to develop a computational framework that combines applied AI with conventional multi-physics and multi-scale modelling. The framework is intended to be used for the development of the next generation of high-performance bearings and seals, where all scales from component geometry down to the microscopic features of the interacting surfaces, contribute to an optimal design", says Andreas Almqvist, professor in machine elements.
Associate Professor Yijun Shi has together with his research colleague Liwen Mu investigated the possibility of replacing petroleum-based substances with fossil-free inedible biomass for lubricant industry during the past several years. It shows good potential. Yijun Shi has now been awarded research grants from both The Swedish Research Council and Formas in two new projects using lignin, a residual product from the paper industry, as new generation fossil free green lubricants and lubricant additives. At the same time, Liwen Mu received Formas early-career researcher grant working on using bio-oil (liquefied biomass) as green lubricants.
"The vast majority of lubricants are still based on petroleum products, namely mineral oils, which cause a series of environmental problems. We want to change this with environmentally friendly products", says Yijun Shi, Associate Professor of machine elements.
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