Abstract
Application of multiphase phenomenon in a living system to an engineering product is proposed in this paper. The material characteristics with hydrophilic and continuously porous structure, which mimics articular cartilage, were adopted for the seal lip in order separate between water phase and gas phase. The water sealing system for a rotating shaft could produce low friction and low ingress of water to mechanical system. The material characteristic with low elastic modulus was adopted for the load bearing material in order to produce shock adsorption against externally applied force. In the system, an externally applied electric field to bearing surfaces was proposed in order to control the frictional characteristic, in which the electric field produced the low shear layer lining on the bearing surface.
