WTC Special 2009 Issue:—Papers from the mini-Symposium on Tribological Aspects of Fluid Power&mdash

The Japanese Society of Tribologists organized the WTC World Tribology Congress 2009, held in Kyoto on 6-11 September 2009, in which 12 Mini Symposia were also held concurrently. Tribological Aspects of Fluid Power was one of those Symposia.The brief scope of this Symposium, designated as Tribological Aspects of Fluid Power, was: “Tribology is the key technology of fluid power components. Not only bearings and seals but also sliding parts of hydraulic pumps and motors as well as cylinders and valves are extremely important elements of such components. Their performance and characteristics strongly affect the reliability and efficiency of those related components.”During this Symposium session, the basics and application of fluid power were discussed.At the Symposium, lubrication models and numerical analyses for hydraulic pumps, motors, valves, and seals as well as tribological characteristics and development of hydraulic oils were presented among other topics. They were then discussed in two sessions. The papers submitted to Tribology Online have subsequently undergone a normal peer review process by multiple reviewers. In this special issue, six papers—four articles and two short communications—are published following the decisions of the authors themselves to submit their papers for peer review.On behalf of the Symposium members, I, the Main Organizer and the Guest Editor, would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Presenters, the Participants, and the Authors for the success of this Symposium and preparing their manuscripts for this special issue. I also thank the Reviewers and the Publication Coordinators for their great efforts undertaken to complete the peer-review processes and perform the difficult and time-consuming tasks of publication. Finally, I extend my special thanks to Dr. Heinrich W. Theissen of RWTH Aachen University, Co-Organizer of this Symposium, as well as Professor Masabumi Masuko, the Editor-in-Chief of this Journal, for their expert help and thoughtful consideration.Main Organizer and Guest EditorToshiharu Kazama