Global Tribology Testing Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Tribology Testing Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

The science of friction, wear, and lubrication is called tribology. Consequently, tribological testing are mechanical tests used to determine wear, friction, and lubrication properties of materials.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Tribology Testing market finds that the global Tribology Testing market reached a value of USD 696.37 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 1235.68 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 10.03% during the forecast period.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a number of challenges for industrial manufacturers around the world, especially those who rely on workers whose work cannot be performed remotely. Because much of the manufacturing work is performed on site, it cannot be done remotely. Second, the slowdown in economic activity has reduced global demand for manufacturing and industrial products.

In the automotive industry, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic had a rapid and severe impact on the globally integrated automotive industry. Symptoms included disruptions in Chinese parts exports, large-scale production disruptions across Europe, and the closure of U.S. assembly plants. This has put tremendous pressure on an industry already coping with declining global demand and, to some extent, the demand for tribological testing.

However, China, an important link in the global supply chain, was one of the first to recover from the outbreak. In addition, the global retail sector has also seen a recovery. Consumer goods, including household and cosmetic products, which were growing rapidly before the outbreak, are still in strong demand at this stage. This has, to some extent, safeguarded and facilitated the growth of tribology testing.

Safeguarding the health of employees is a top priority for companies and governments alike. A number of tribology testing companies have already closed some of their laboratories. However, the unique nature of tribology testing's operating model, i.e., a lab-based work environment, makes the direct impact of COVID-19 on companies lower than in other industries.

Overall, COVID-19 will reduce the market demand for tribology testing services because of the stagnation of downstream industries. However, when the epidemic is alleviated and the economy gradually recovers, the tribology testing market growth rate will also resume as emerging markets such as electric vehicles demand tribology testing services.

Multiple Demands

All movement or displacement creates friction, which creates wear. Tribology is essential for testing coatings or lubricants that can reduce this wear and ensure that mechanical components work properly. The development of new coatings and lubricants also requires tribological testing. Some obvious applications are in the automotive industry, where it is used to test pistons, bearings, brake pads, tires or wipers, among others. Jewelry and paints, coatings or varnishes are all subject to mechanical friction. Moreover, soft tribology test can provide comparisons of lubricity in a soft contact situation, similar to skin on skin contact processes such as spreading a topical product onto skin, or sensing the texture properties of a soft material in the mouth. Also, tribology is important in medical applications, such as implants, catheters or contact lenses, or touch screens, mirrors and lenses. The orthopedic implant industry, for example, is continuing to grow, but the process of development is fraught with challenges. Biocompatibility of orthopedic implants is critical, but longevity is becoming an important clinical issue as more and more patients exceed the life expectancy of their implants. Therefore, the biomimetic properties of implants are becoming increasingly important. Various mechanical tests are routinely used to study wear phenomena on the surface of the system, such as orthopedic implants fitted into specially designed simulators that allow the investigation of long-term wear of the implant over shorter time scales. Improving the biocompatibility of implants is a permanent task of tribological testing by means of different test methods. Tribological testing ensures that the product complies with industry standards, thus protecting the environment and improving overall safety. Tribology testing will be driven by the multiple demands for tribology testing in various industries.

Technical Challenges

One of the challenges of tribological testing is that friction and wear values cannot be easily transferred from one system to another, e.g. from tribological test equipment to practical applications. There are many influencing factors that need to be taken into account when performing friction tests in real environments, such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric conditions, and fluid immersion; however, these are only some of the factors that need to be taken into account, and there are many practical factors that need to be considered depending on the conditions. Therefore, being able to replicate and simulate the environmental conditions under which the tests are performed is essential for obtaining accurate friction test data, and only accurate friction test data can effectively help technicians improve the quality of the products they produce.

Region Overview:

In global comparison, a significant portion of the revenue was generated in Europe (30.23% in 2021).

Company Overview:

ALS is one of the major players operating in the Tribology Testing market, holding a share of 14.73% in 2022.

ALS

ALS is a leading testing, inspection, certification and verification company. ALS’s major business today is its international testing services business. In that business, they are focused on delivering superior services through four main divisions: Minerals; Life Sciences; Energy; and Industrial and offering a broad range of technical services to the clients.

Intertek

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. They provide innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification services to customers.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Wear Metals Testing segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2021.

Oil Condition Tests

Oil condition tests of tribology testing provide quality control tests for lubricants and oils, helping protect valuable machinery, power-trains, large engines, and other equipment from expensive failure, unplanned downtime and severe damage from contaminated or dirty lubricants.

Wear Metals Testing

Wear metals testing can help avoid expensive damage and downtime to high-value engines, gears, generators, turbines and other important equipment.

Application Overview:

The market's largest segment by application is the segment Construction and Transportation, with a market share of 58.76% in 2021.

Consumer Goods

Tribology testing can solve issues with packaging lines, product durability, efficiency, mainly for personal care products and cosmetic issues.

Construction and Transportation

Tribology testing for coatings, surface treatments, equipment and components in construction and transportation.

Energy Industry

Tribology testing applied in the energy industry mainly includes the testing for coatings, lubrication and other materials involved in solar cells, wind turbines and power plants.

Key Companies in the global Tribology Testing market covered in Chapter 3:

Intertek
HEF USA
EPI MTG
AC²T
Tribologix
Falex Tribology
Jinan Yihua Tribology Testing Technology Co.,Ltd
Nova Swiss
Polyhedron Laboratories
ALS

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Tribology Testing market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Oil Condition Tests
Wear Metals Testing
Others

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Tribology Testing market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Consumer Goods
Construction and Transportation
Energy Industry
Others

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)