Friction is the force that occurs between two contact surfaces in relative motion, whereas wear is the phenomenon of mechanical and/or chemical damage that affects the quality of the materials in contact with each other. Friction is found everywhere: transportation, industrial, energy, motion bearing, automotive, manufacture and equipment and has several important consequences: It induces energy losses and CO2 emissions. Altogether, friction accounts for about 20% of the world’s total energy consumption and 3% is used to remanufacture worn parts and spare equipment due to wear and wear-related failures. The total costs of friction and wear globally are € 2.53 Billion and the total CO2 emissions due to friction and wear are 8,120 MtCO2. Studies carried out in several countries indicate that by taking advantage of the new surface, materials, and lubrication technologies for friction reduction and wear protection (tribological advances) in vehicles, machinery and other equipment worldwide, energy losses due to friction and wear could potentially be reduced by 40% in the long term (15 years) and by 18% in the short term (8 years). On global scale, these savings would amount to 1.4% of the GDP annually and 8.7% of the total energy consumption. Furthermore, today, considerable effort is being devoted to producing increasingly more energy efficient machines and vehicles, not only for economic reasons, but also in order to face new challenges regarding global climate change. To address the frictional and wear challenge, TVARC has developed a new coating process, namely, Thermionic Vacuum Arc (TVA), a solid lubricant-based in which nano-dimensional thin film of material (i.e. Boron, Graphite, Diamond like carbon, hexagonal Boron-nitride, Molybdenum disulphide, Titanium Nitride, Silicon Carbide, Zirconium dioxide or Aluminum oxide) is directly applied to surfaces in order to provide improve frictional behaviours between materials. The innovative and disruptive solution represents a real shift in the sector with crucial economic impact on the entire industry. The TVA coating process is a major suitable method to become a powerful coating technology in industries, becoming an alternative to the traditional solid-lubricant technology and appears as the new standardizing solution for current and future lubrication systems.
