The Importance Of Tribological Testing In Vacuum Valves

Abstract

Tribological testing plays a critical role in ensuring the reliability and performance of vacuum
valves in a variety of applications, particularly in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, and
vacuum-based research. The tribology of materials, which studies the interactions of surfaces in motion, is
essential for understanding how vacuum valves will behave under real-world conditions, where high vacuum
and mechanical stresses are common. Friction and wear are caused by complicated and multiplex sets of
microscopic interactions between surfaces that are in mechanical contact and slide against each other. These
interactions are the result of the materials, the geometrical and topographical characteristics of the surfaces,
and the overall conditions under which the surfaces are made to slide against each other, e.g., loading,
temperature, atmosphere, type of contact, etc. All mechanical, physical, chemical, and geometrical aspects of
the surface contact and of the surrounding atmosphere affect the surface interactions and thereby also the
tribological characteristics of the system. Therefore, friction and wear are not simply materials parameters
available in handbooks; they are unique characteristics of the tribological system in which they are measured