PROMETHEUS

Motivation

Internal combustion engines are still ubiquitous in industry and mobility. The friction losses that occur during their use are considerably high at around 40 percent. Depending on the operating state, the prevailing friction between individual engine components can vary. This is where the PROMETHEUS research project comes in. Previous tribological measures in the engine were largely carried out separately (lubricant, coating, topography, design) or were limited to individual assemblies (valve train, piston ring, cylinder wall, connecting rod). In combination, the measures often did not nearly achieve the sum of the individual effects. This situation is to be overcome with a global tribological approach and optimization in the PROMETHEUS project.
 

Goals

The goal of the project is to increase the energy efficiency of internal combustion engines by significantly reducing friction on all key sliding components. The special feature here is the consideration of all measures in the overall context, i. e. the consistent linking of all optimization measures for coatings, surface structures and lubricants supported by simulative methods. The Fraunhofer IWS work focuses on the development of specially doped ta-C:X coatings, where the doping is to be tuned to an optimal tribochemical interaction with the engine oil additives.