Serbian Tribology Society SERBIATRIB ‘19 16 th International Conference on Tribology Faculty of Engineering University of Kragujevac Kragujevac, Serbia, 15 – 17 May 2019 DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL TRIBOMETER: DESIGN CONCEPT Gencaga PURCEK*, Harun YANAR Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey * Corresponding author: purcek@ktu.edu.tr Abstract: Tribometer is a testing device which is used to measure tribological properties of materials or systems like friction force, wear rate and related phenomenon developed between surfaces in a relative motion. Until it was first invented by Leonardo da Vinci – the first tribologist, many types of tribometers have been developed. Since tribological problems are present in almost any field of engineering, various tribometers are in use to simulate all kinds of situations encountered in the real applications. In recent years, modular or multi-functional tribometers have been developed and transferred to the tests applications. In this study, a new tribological test platform is presented concerning its design, modular concept, operative system and loading options. This multi-functional tribometer was designed to conduct various tribological tests in the same test platform by chancing the modules. Developed tribometer can work together with the modules of “pin-on-disc”, “linear reciprocating”, “block-on-ring”, “high temperature”, “tribo-corrosion”, “lubrication” and “piston ring on cylinder liner”. The test platform was also designed to be flexible, and new simulators or modules can be adapted added if they are needed. On the other hand, the system has four main motion types of rotary, reciprocating, block on ring and angular rotary. The innovative design aspects are suitable to allow for a variety of probes, sample surfaces, and testing conditions. A user friendly software was also developed to evaluate, control and digitalize the data coming from the sensors and other electronic parts during testing. Keywords: Tribometer, tribotester, multi-functional tribometer, modular tribometer, tribology, friction, wear, lubrication. 1. INTRODUCTION Tribology is the science and technology that investigates the interaction of surfaces in relative motion in the form of friction, wear, lubrication and other design aspects of materials science. These concepts of tribology have several practical implications in our everyday lives. For example, the friction between our feet and the ground allows us to walk and drive each day. Tribology, on the other hand, is an experiment-oriented branch of a complex, interdisciplinary science, in which testing plays a major role in the solution and/or understanding of technical problems [1]. Tribological problems are often complex, and their understanding and solution rely on experimental data obtained from laboratory tests. Various standard or non-standart test methods have been developed and used for this purpose. The results obtained from these tests are sensitive to the choice of test method and test conditions. A tribometer (or tribotester) is a generic name given to a machine or device used to perform tests and simulations of wear, friction and lubrication [2]. In this regard, the first tribometer was invented by Leonrado da Vinci 16th International Conference on Tribology - SERBIATRIB ‘19 31