Role of Tribology in Performance of Miniaturized Electrical Motors

Tribology is the multi-disciplinary subject that deals with wear and friction of the surfaces in motion. Miniaturized electrical motors contain tribological components like sliding contacts (brushes), rolling contacts (ball bearings and bush bearings), damping rings, seals, washers and gears. These tribological components tend to fail before other components of the motor mainly because of friction and wear. Thus, life of the motor is very much dependent on the performance of the tribological components. Let’s look at a few tribological motor components which impact overall life.