Summary: Leeds-Lyon 2026 explored how tribology can support decarbonisation through cumulative reductions in friction, wear and energy loss, alongside improved reliability and whole-life performance. Dr Simon Quinn also saw growing demand for experimental methods that can reproduce electrified, hydrogen, water-based and other complex environments, supported by in-situ measurement, robust validation and accessible bench-top instrumentation.

With around 300 attendees from across the international tribology community, Leeds-Lyon 2026 was larger than Dr Simon Quinn expected.

Representing PCS Instruments at the 51st Leeds-Lyon Symposium on Tribology, Simon spent several days moving between presentations, posters and conversations around this year’s theme, Tribology: A Pathway to Decarbonisation. The programme covered everything from electrification and hydrogen to tribocorrosion, modelling and in-situ measurement, but one idea connected much of what was discussed: meaningful progress can be made through many smaller improvements, not only through the search for one transformative technology.

How Can Tribology Support Decarbonisation?

Tribology can support decarbonisation by reducing the many individual sources of friction, wear and energy loss found throughout mechanical systems. As Simon put it, “Efficiency losses are made up of lots of little losses.” A single improvement may appear modest, but repeated across the contacts within a machine, vehicle or industrial system, those gains can add up.

The discussion also moved beyond the energy consumed during operation. Reliability, repairability, maintenance and recycling all influence the wider environmental impact of equipment. Designing tribology into a system from the outset can help extend component life and ensure that maintenance and repair are considered before problems arise. In this context, efficiency is not only about reducing friction. It is also about keeping equipment working effectively for longer.

Which Environments Are Shaping Future Tribology Testing?

Electrification, hydrogen and water-based systems are creating tribology challenges that require new experimental approaches. In electric vehicles and wind turbines, discussions covered high-speed bearings and gearboxes, very-low-viscosity lubricants, electrical bearing damage, thermal management and the compatibility between lubricant and electrical properties.

Hydrogen embrittlement and hydrogen permeation from lubricated contacts raise a different set of questions, while water lubrication and tribocorrosion bring wear, corrosion and electrochemistry into the same problem. The main testing implications can be summarised as follows:

Area discussed	Research challenge	Testing implication
Electrification	High speeds, very-low-viscosity lubricants, electrical damage and thermal management	Mechanical, electrical and thermal conditions may need to be studied together
Hydrogen environments	Embrittlement and permeation from lubricated contacts	New experimental methods are needed to investigate materials and contacts under relevant conditions
Water-based systems and tribocorrosion	Interactions between lubrication, wear, corrosion and electrochemistry	Tribological and electrochemical behaviour may need to be measured simultaneously

PCS Instruments summary of themes observed at Leeds-Lyon 2026.

What connects these areas is not simply that the operating conditions are more demanding. Several effects may be acting on a contact at the same time, making it harder to isolate what is driving a change in behaviour. Relevant experimental work therefore depends on being able to reproduce the right combination of conditions in a controlled and repeatable way.

How Are Measurement and Modelling Evolving?

In-situ measurement and multi-parameter tribometry are giving researchers more ways to understand what happens during a test. Work presented at Leeds-Lyon included contact visualisation, acoustic emission monitoring of lubrication state, real-time wear measurement and electrochemistry, as well as the simultaneous measurement of film thickness and viscosity.

These approaches allow changes to be observed as they happen, adding context that a final friction or wear result may not provide on its own. At the same time, modelling, digital twins and machine learning are becoming more prominent. One of Simon’s clearest impressions from the programme was that these tools do not reduce the need for experimental work. Sophisticated models still depend on robust validation and high-quality data from well-controlled tribometers.

What Does This Mean for Bench-Top Testing?

Bench-top instrumentation may need to reproduce more complex application conditions while remaining accessible enough for experimental research. Several presentations used bespoke or home-built rigs, while others relied on commercial tribometers. That mix points to a space between straightforward screening and expensive full-scale simulation where flexible, purpose-designed instrumentation can add real value.

The objective is not to recreate an entire application on the bench, but to reproduce the conditions that control the behaviour being studied. Conversations at Leeds-Lyon pointed towards future requirements including hydrogen and high-pressure testing, tribocorrosion and electrochemistry, electrical effects and integrated in-situ sensing. Victoria Van Camp also identified nuclear-material tribometers as a potentially fruitful development area.

For PCS Instruments, these discussions provided useful insight into what researchers may need next. Meaningful, application-relevant bench-top testing offers a way to assess new technologies and ideas before progressing towards real-world use, while retaining the control required to understand why a particular result occurs.

Why Does the Leeds-Lyon Format Matter?

For Simon, much of Leeds-Lyon’s value came from its friendly, personable atmosphere and the way attendees remained together as a community throughout the event. This made it easier to have meaningful conversations, return to points raised during presentations and spend more time understanding the work being discussed.

“At bigger conferences, you have to catch the speaker after their talk, or you never see them again,” Simon said. Leeds-Lyon felt different. The welcome buffet, poster party, lunches and breaks created natural opportunities to continue technical discussions without having to rush them into the few minutes following a presentation.

Those conversations were as useful to Simon as the formal programme itself. Speaking with academics and industrial researchers provided further insight into future testing and instrumentation requirements, while also helping to identify potential collaborators and customers.

Key Takeaways

Several points stood out from Leeds-Lyon 2026:

• Decarbonisation can be supported through many incremental reductions in friction, wear and energy loss.
• Sustainability also depends on reliability, repairability, maintenance, recycling and whole-life performance.
• Electrification, hydrogen and water-based environments are creating new experimental challenges.
• In-situ measurement and multi-parameter tribometry are expanding what can be understood during a test.
• Modelling, digital twins and machine learning continue to depend on robust experimental validation.
• There is a clear role for accessible, application-focused bench-top testing between simple screening and full-scale simulation.

Looking Ahead

Leeds-Lyon 2026 did not point towards one answer to decarbonisation. Instead, it showed how progress can come from combining better efficiency and longer equipment life with experimental methods capable of addressing new and increasingly complex applications.

For PCS Instruments, the event offered a clearer view of where those testing requirements may be heading, as well as the opportunity to continue the conversations behind them.