[Media Report] Overcoming World-Class Problems in Tribology-Guangming Daily Interview with Academician Luo Jianbin, Honorary Dean of Our College

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The hour hand points to eight o'clock in the morning. In a small office in Tsinghua Park, Luo Jianbin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, has been working at his desk for a long time. Seeing the reporter coming, the tall man immediately got up and smiled: "Welcome, welcome." Gentle and humble.

The early summer sun came in obliquely from the window and fell on the desk, which was covered with the latest English professional books and scientific research reports on tribology. The whiteboard at the back is covered with his recent work arrangements, densely packed.

"Tribology is an interdisciplinary study of surface friction behavior. When friction occurs, it is often accompanied by wear. Friction and wear can cause energy consumption and loss of equipment, devices and materials. The study found that about 30% of the world's primary energy is consumed by friction every year, about 80% of machine parts fail due to wear, and about 50% of mechanical equipment accidents originate from lubrication failure and excessive wear." Luo Jianbin explained the significance of the scientific research work he was obsessed with, "my country is a big manufacturing country, the service life of mechanical equipment is short, and there are many low-end and high-energy-consuming equipment. The waste caused by friction and wear every year is huge."

In nearly 40 years of scientific research career, this international top tribologist has always been seeking the answer to the same question-how to reduce the coefficient of friction, reduce friction energy consumption, and make the green development of human society possible.

In 1978, Luo Jianbin from rural Shaanxi was admitted to the materials department of Northeastern University. After graduation, he entered Xi 'an Cable Factory as a technician. In his work, a phenomenon caught his attention: "The cable factory makes cables, there is a process called drawing copper wire. In summer, the copper wire is easily oxidized and discolored and becomes waste. The workmates and I began to study how to lower the temperature of the copper wire, and gradually became interested in lubrication, and published our first academic paper." Since then, Luo Jianbin has developed a strong interest in tribology. Since then, he has successively obtained a master's degree in the Department of Metallurgy of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, and a doctoral degree in the Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanics of Tsinghua University, focusing on the international cutting-edge film lubrication research at that time.

Over the past 30 years, Luo Jianbin and his team have made unremitting efforts to tackle key problems and achieved one after another: they have developed a new type of nano-scale lubrication film thickness measuring instrument, and put forward the concept of "thin film lubrication state" for the first time in the world, filling the theoretical gap between elastohydrodynamic lubrication and boundary lubrication. they have also boldly explored the problems of ultra-slip and polishing in the basic application field, and solved a series of technical problems for industrial development.

In the eyes of outsiders, this scientific research road is going smoothly. But Luo Jianbin said that there had been ups and downs and hardships.

"For example, we began to do the super-slippery research in 1996, but there has been no important progress. Until 2008, a student accidentally added yogurt to the experimental machine, which led to the existence of super-slippery phenomenon in the acid. Once I went to Hangzhou on a business trip and drank the water shield soup, which was very interesting, and then I found the super-slippery in it as expected." Luo Jianbin told these short stories to the journalist with great interest: "In fact, each of our studies spans a long time, with numerous failures, large and small. Perseverance is the most important thing in scientific research."

In addition to this tenacity, the reason why he was able to overcome world-class problems in the field of tribology and lead the team to the international forefront step by step, Luo Jianbin said frankly that there are "tricks" behind this.

The first secret is that to do first-class scientific research, we must aim at high-risk and difficult problems. "The probability of failing scientific research is 90%, the probability of making it is only 10%, failure is normal, and the probability of success is small. If every project can be successful, it only means that the risk is very low and it is not worth investing in." Luo Jianbin asked students to "jump up and pick peaches" in scientific research ".

After anchoring the research direction, he valued "concentration" and "meditation". "Doing scientific research often requires thinking very deeply about the problem, finding out the factors that are hidden in the innermost and deep-rooted, and requiring quiet and in-depth thinking. It is necessary to have a persistent pursuit and not to rush for success." In Luo Jianbin's office, a picture of "the bench will be cold for ten years, and the article will not be empty" is extremely conspicuous. Over the years, he has strictly required students to publish no more than 3 papers a year. The purpose is to make students calm, ensure the quality of papers, and cultivate students' rigorous scientific research spirit.

In recent years, in addition to being immersed in the laboratory, Luo Jianbin's figure has appeared more and more frequently in factories, workshops and production lines. After the first-class results are made, they must go out of the laboratory. This is the greatest value of scientific research workers in his eyes. Today, his team has gathered talents from three aspects, some of which focus on theoretical research, some are good at tackling key technical problems, and some focus on industrialization promotion. "In our country, after many achievements are finished, it is the end to send a high-level paper or win a national award, which is the biggest waste of achievements. Calm down and make the achievements, but never sink in the laboratory, we must let it go to industry, in order to really serve the development of mankind." Luo Jianbin said.

At the end of the interview, Luo Jianbin led the reporter to the State Key Laboratory of Tribology located downstairs in his office. Over the years, he has more macro-control and less front-line operations, but as long as he has time every day, he is still willing to go to the laboratory to soak.

At present, five or six of the world's top papers in the field of ultra-skating come from his team. But Luo Jianbin said that these are far from enough: "Doing scientific research is the best way for me to contribute to the country, and it also makes me feel the highest honor. To make the Chinese do their best in the field of tribology, we still need to work harder."

Source | Guangming Daily