Main Research Interests

In the early years of his academic career Professor Etsion research focused on fluid mechanics aspects of tribology. He developed original solutions for gas bearings and made pioneering contributions in the area of mechanical seal dynamics. He then started to study solid mechanics aspects of tribology and made some breakthrough contributions in modeling contact, adhesion, and static friction of rough surfaces. Professor Etsion invented in 1996 the laser surface texturing (LST), which is now recognizes worldwide as a promising technology for energy conservation. HE also made original contributions in micro/nano-tribology and in bio-tribology. He is the author and co-author of more than 200 scientific archival publications (h-index 52 as of January 2022) and the inventor and co-inventor of 15 patents. He supervised more than 50 graduate students, supervised scientists from the former USSR that immigrated to Israel, and collaborated with scientists from many nations.  His current research focus in on: modeling of coated rough surfaces aiming at optimizing coating thickness for best tribological performance.

Selected Honors and Awards

2021      James Watt International Gold Medal.

2016      ASME Mayo D. Hersey Award.

2008      ASME Tribology Tribology Division Innovative Research Award.

2005      STLE Division K.L. Johnson Best Paper Award.

2005      ASME International Award.

1999      The Hershel Rich Technion Innovation Award.

Selected publications

1. Zhang, and I. Etsion: An advanced efficient model for adhesive wear in elastic-plastic spherical contact, Friction Vol. 10(8), Jan. 2022, pp. 1276–1284; https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0569-2
2. Goltsberg and I. Etsion: A Universal Model for the Load-Displacement Relation in an Elastic Coated Spherical Contact, Wear, Vol. 322-323, Jan. 2015, pp. 126–132.
3. Sivan, A. Schroeder, G. Verberne, Y. Merkher, D. Diminsky, A. Priev, A. Maroudas, G. Halperin, D. Nitzan, I. Etsion and Y. Barenholz: Liposomes Act as Effective Biolubricants for Friction Reduction in Human Synovial Joints, Langmuir, Vol. 26 (2), Jan. 2010, pp. 1107-1116.
4. Etsion: State of the Art in Laser Surface Texturing. J. of Tribology, Trans. ASME, Vol. 127, No. 1, Jan. 2005, pp. 248-253.
5. Kogut and I. Etsion: Elastic-Plastic Contact Analysis of a Sphere and a Rigid Flat. J. of Applied Mechanics, Trans. ASME. Vol. 69, No. 5, Sept. 2002, pp. 657-662.
6. Etsion, Y. Kligerman and G. Halperin: Analytical and Experimental Investigation of Laser-Textured Mechanical Seal Faces. Tribology Transactions, Vol. 42, No. 3, July 1999, pp. 511-516.