With a view to reducing the energy consumption of vehicles and improving passenger comfort, the engineers at Groupe PSA have made it a priority to eliminate friction. Accordingly, they have combined tests and expertise to optimise tribological performance.
In the automotive industry, any friction is synonymous with energy consumption, pollution and reduced comfort. It is therefore a priority for all teams working on the design of new low-consumption models to combat waste by optimising the tribological performance of the vehicles. The Groupe PSA has clearly understood this ! As a matter of fact, the company has a specialised in-house department which thoroughly analyses all friction specific to auto mechanics. Nevertheless, this expertise has not prevented the company from establishing strong ties with other research laboratories, such as for example Cetim, which performs many tribological studies for this partner with high-quality requirements.
A broader perspective
“We have been working with the tribology experts at Cetim for many years, explained Moussa Diaby, lead tribology expert at Groupe PSA. The Centre has a broader perspective of the friction problems given its expertise which largely exceeds that of the automotive sector. In fact, Cetim performs many tests in the automotive sector as well as in the aeronautics, aerospace, heat treatment and surface treatment sectors. This multi-sector approach and the associated skills, inter alia in new materials, represent a major asset for the quality of our work and the excellence of our vehicles”. In addition to specific studies, Cetim also serves as a service centre to ease the workload of the in-house teams during peak periods. “This is the essential thrust of the lasting partnership that we have built with the tribology experts at Cetim, added Moussa Diaby. We can count on the quality of their analyses, their resources and their availability as an assurance of the timely submission of the expected results”.
Cetim’s experts can establish methods and tools (e.g.: high-speed tribometers) to closely reproduce the tribological stresses of the parts and components in order to optimise their behaviour.
