Dr. Richard Gates

Dr. Richard S. Gates received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Hobart College in 1978. In 1978 he began work at the then National Bureau of Standards (NBS), now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), as a Chemist in the Recycled Oil Program. While at NIST, he continued to pursue advanced education through a cooperative work/study program in Chemical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. In 1987 he was awarded a Master of Science degree based on his work on the tribochemical lubrication mechanism of alumina with water. This work also resulted in a patent, several papers, and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Al Sonntag Award for the best paper in solid lubrication in 1989. In 1993, he earned a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering based on his work on the boundary lubrication of silicon nitride by oxygen-containing compounds. This work also resulted in a patent and several publications. His current research interests includes micro/nanotribology,development of microanalytical techniques for application to micro/nanotribology, and the role of surface chemistry in boundary lubrication.

Dr. Gates is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), and the American Ceramic Society (ACerS).

Books and Special Publications

• Gates, R.S., "Ceramic Tribology: Methodology and Mechanisms of Alumina Wear," MS Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 1987.
• Gates, R.S., Hsu, S.M., and Klaus E.E., "Ceramic Tribology: Methodology and Mechanisms of Alumina Wear," NIST Special Publication 758, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1988.
• Gates, R.S., "Boundary Lubrication of Silicon Nitride by Oxygen-Containing Compounds," PhD thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 1993.
• Gates, R.S. and Hsu, S.M., "Boundary Lubrication of Silicon Nitride," NIST Special Publication 876, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1995.
• S.M. Hsu and R.S.Gates, "Boundary Lubrication and Boundary Lubricating Films," pp 455-492, Chapter 12 in CRC Handbook of Modern Tribology, edited by Bharat Bhushan,CRC Press, New York, 2001.

Selected Publications

• Gates, R.S., Jewett, K.L., and Hsu, S.M., "A Study on the Nature of Boundary Lubricating Film: Analytical Method Development," Tribology Transactions, 32, 4, pp 423-430, 1989.
• Gates, R.S., Hsu, S.M., and Klaus, E.E., "Tribochemical Mechanism of Alumina with Water," Tribology Transactions, 32, 3, pp 357-363, 1989.
• Wang, F.X., Lacey, P.I., Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "A Study of the Relative Surface Conformity between Two Surfaces in Sliding Contact," Journal of Tribology, Transactions of the ASME, 113, pp 755-761, 1991.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Effect of Selected Chemical Compounds on the Lubrication of Silicon Nitride," Tribology Transactions, 34, 3, pp 417-425, 1991.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Silicon Nitride Boundary Lubrication: Effect of Oxygenates," Tribology Transactions, 38, 3, pp 607-617, 1995.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Silicon Nitride Boundary Lubrication: Lubrication Mechanism of Alcohols," Tribology Transactions, 38, 3, pp 645-653, 1995.
• Hsu, S.M., and Gates, R.S., "Tribochemistry and Lubrication," Proceedings of the International Tribology Conference, Satellite Forum on Tribochemistry, pp 43-48,Yokohama, Japan, 1995.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Silicon Nitride Boundary Lubrication: Effect of Phosphorus-Containing Organic Compounds," Tribology Transactions, 39, 4, pp 795-802, 1996.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Advanced Lubricants for Diesel Engine Particulate Control," Tribotest, 3-4, 3, pp 393-406, 1997.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Chemo-Mechanical Machining of Ceramics," in Finishing of Advanced Ceramics and Glasses, Ceramic Transactions, 102, pp 67-76, 1999.
• Gates, R.S., Ying, T.N., Wang, P.S., Yin, Z., Chen, C.I., Wang, Y., and Hsu, S.M., "Mechanisms of Alcohols in Assisting the Diamond Grinding of Ceramics," Tribology Transactions, 42, 3, pp 517-522, 1999.
• Gates, R.S., Wang, Y., Ying, T.N., and Hsu, S.M., "A Grinding Map Concept for Optimization of Ceramic Machining," Tribology Transactions, 42, 4, pp 715-722, 1999.
• Gates, R.S., and Hsu, S.M., "Silicon Nitride Boundary Lubrication: Effect of Sulfonate, Phenate, and Salicylate compounds," Tribology Transactions, 43, 2, pp 269-274, 2000.
• Hsu, S.M., McGuiggan, P.M., Zhang, J., Wang, Y., Yin , F. Yeh, Y.P., and Gates,R.S., "Scaling Issues in the Measurement of Monolayer Films," pp 691-710 in NATO Science Series II. Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry - Vol. 10. Fundamentals of Tribology and Bridging the Gap between the Macro- and Micro/Nanoscales, Kluwer, Netherlands, 2001.
• Zhang, X.H., Gates, R.S., Gates, R.S., Anders, S., and Hsu, S.M. "An Accelerated Wear Test Method to Evaluate Lubricant Thin Films on Magnetic Hard Disks," Tribology Letters, 11, 1, pp 15-21, 2001.

Patents

US Patent # 4,919,829 "Aluminum Hydroxides as Solid Lubricants," Inventors: Richard S. Gates and Stephen M. Hsu. Issued April 24, 1990.

US Patent # 6,206,764 "Methods for Machining Hard Materials Using Alcohols," Inventors: Stephen M. Hsu, Tsi-Neng Ying, Jia-Ming Gu, Yu-Shu Wang, and Richard S. Gates. Issued March 27, 2001.

US Patent # 6,207,627 "Oxygen-Containing Organic Compounds as Boundary Lubricants for Silicon Nitride Ceramics," Inventors: Richard S. Gates and Stephen M. Hsu. Issued March 27, 2001.

Research Interests

The combined use of analytical techniques and performance measurements to elucidate surface interaction mechanisms in materials.

• Surface chemical properties of ceramics
• Chemical influences in ceramic machining
• Tribochemistry
• Micro/Nanotribology
• Development of microanalytical techniques for application to micro/nanotribology
• The role of surface chemistry in boundary lubrication