Aims
Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442) publishes regular research papers, reviews, letters and communications covering all aspects of tribology, including the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear.

Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish experimental, theoretical and computational results that provide new insight and understanding into the scientific and technical basis for lubrication and related phenomenon. There is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. There are, in addition, three unique features of this Journal:

Manuscripts regarding research proposals and research ideas are welcome; Electronic files and software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material; Manuscripts concerning summaries and surveys on research cooperation and projects (that are founded by national governments) to give information for a broad field of users.

Scope
This journal is dedicated to the field of Tribology and closely related disciplines. This includes the fundamentals of the following topics:

● Lubrication, comprising hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, elastohydrodynamics, mixed and boundary regimes of lubrication

● Friction, comprising viscous shear, Newtonian and non-Newtonian traction, boundary friction

● Wear, including adhesion, abrasion, tribo-corrosion, scuffing and scoring

● Cavitation and erosion

● Sub-surface stressing, fatigue spalling, pitting, micro-pitting

● Contact Mechanics: elasticity, elasto-plasticity, adhesion, viscoelasticity, poroelasticity, coatings and solid lubricants, layered bonded and unbonded solids

● Surface Science: topography, tribo-film formation, lubricant–surface combination, surface texturing, micro-hydrodynamics, micro-elastohydrodynamics

● Rheology: Newtonian, non-Newtonian fluids, dilatants, pseudo-plastics, thixotropy, shear thinning

● Physical chemistry of lubricants, boundary active species, adsorption, bonding


The general themes include:
● Micro-scale conventional aspects of tribology in journal bearings, ball and rolling element bearings, all forms of gears and transmission systems, cam–follower pairs, piston–cylinder systems, rings, seals and o-rings, etc., as well as mechanics of tyre–road interactions including terramechanics and bearings subject to cryogenic conditions, such as space bearings.

● Nano and meso-scales, including formation of surface bonded/adsorbed tribo-films, micro-cavitation and erosion in bearings, micro-indentation, use of precision measurement systems such as SEM, XPS, XRD, MTM, AFM(LFM), etc.

● Nano-tribology, including Brownian dynamics, statistical mechanics, molecular dynamics, use of DVLO, van der Waals, electrostatics, solvation, hydration, meniscus/surface tension theories.

● Bio-tribology, including biocompatibility, natural endo-articular synovial joints, arthroplasty (hip, knee and other replacement prostheses), ocular tribology, tribology of skin (keratin and hydration), tribology of teeth (pathological and prophylactic wear), tribology of blood arteries and capillaries (haemodynamics, angioplasty, mechanics of plague and stents), biomimetics (attachment and locomotion)

● Cryogenic tribology, including space tribology, coatings and solid lubricants, low temperature friction, adhesion and elasto-plasticity.


Multi-scale multi-physics investigations are particularly encouraged.