In recognition of his outstanding achievement in Tribology in particular his meritorious work of tribological developments for the Railway Industries.
Professor Nikolai Bushe was born in September 1916. In 1936 he started as a worker at one of the Moscow plants and in 1941 he graduated from the Moscow Institute for Non-ferrous Materials. Conscripted to the Army in 1941, he served with distinction during the Second World War, being wounded on two occasions. After demobilisation he joined the All-Union Research Institute of Railway Transport (VNIIZht) where he founded and headed the laboratory of non-ferrous metals, and later tribology, where he still continues his research work.
Prof. Bushe is prominent in the development of tribological materials, especially materials based on metallic components, powder metals and composites. His concept of materials compatibility has become a scientific basis for the development of new bearing materials, composite materials for current collection and materials for numerous tribological applications.
At the Institute he formulated quantitative and qualitative criteria for the compatibility of tribosystems and developed new concepts for the manufacture of bearing compounds, for instance those of lead, zinc and aluminium bases. This work resulted in knowledge of tribological behaviour of materials consisting of a soft phase in a hard matrix, which has proved to be of great value to research and in practice.
Prof. Bushe has successfully researched the very important phenomenon friction transfer in contact mechanics with components varying in physical and mechanical properties and he has made significant contributions in the area of metal composites.
In the transfer of research and development to practical applications, Professor Bushe found solutions of many problems requiring urgent attention. This successful work was not limited to the formulation of bearing materials, but also to their manufacture, which has found wide application. The development of bonding by means of the explosive process of aluminium alloy materials to steel, the powder rolling technique in the production of metal ceramic contact elements and the production combination of continuous casting and rolling in the manufacture of copper wire are but examples of his scientific and technical achievements.
His outstanding research of self-organising conditions of tribosystems working with and without electric current is continuing and was the subject of a paper at the 2001 World Tribology Congress in Vienna.
Most of the activities of Prof. Bushe have been connected to railways. They had a considerable influence on the efficiency of the very large Railway system of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In the former Soviet Union all main line DC electric locomotive current collectors have been equipped with metal-ceramic contact strips developed with participation of Professor Bushe.
These developments have found a wide application, not only in the former Soviet Union, but also by joint work in Israel. In the case of new bearings more than 200,000 half bearings have been made for use by diesel locomotives.
Professor Bushe’s achievements have not been limited to research and application of tribological materials. He also exerted great influence in the educational sphere of the former USSR. His tribology courses to undergraduates, text books, guidance of PhD students have been acclaimed, as have his activities in the USSR Certification Committee for Scientific and Educational Degrees.
For many years Prof. Bushe was a leading member of the Russian Delegation of the International Standardisation Committee and for 10 years Chairman of the Working Group on Plain Bearings. His monographs, scientific papers and patents are used extensively by researchers and design engineers in industry. He has written more than 300 papers and 6 books, the English version of one having been published in the USA in 1994.
Prof. Bushe is an extraordinary scientist, who has been honoured with six High State Decorations, an Honorary Doctorate of the Metal Polymer Research Institute of the Belarus Academy of Sciences, as well as being recipient of many professional honours. He has participated in European Tribology Congresses since 1981, as well as in the World Tribology Congress in London (1997) and Vienna (2001) at which he presented papers in his specialities.
An outstanding scientist, a brilliant teacher and a great engineer, Professor Bushe is a worthy recipient of tribology’s highest award: the 2002 Tribology Gold Medal.