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This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy...
This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy carries out the responsibilities for which it was established in 1964.
Under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering was formed as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Members are elected on the basis of significant contributions to engineering theory and practice and to the literature of engineering or on the basis of demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The National Academies share a responsibility to advise the federal government on matters of science and technology. The expertise and credibility that the National Academy of Engineering brings to that task stem directly from the abilities, interests, and achievements of our members and international members, our colleagues and friends, whose special gifts we remember in this book.
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BY Q. JANE WANG AND WEI CHEN1
HERBERT SUYUEN CHENG, Walter P. Murphy Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University and world-renowned leader in tribology, passed away Oct. 24, 2022, at age 92.
Born Nov. 15, 1929, in Shanghai, China, Herb spent his early years there before immigrating to the United States in 1949, via Hong Kong and Honolulu. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1952. After working at International Harvester Co. and Machine Engineering Co., he pursued graduate studies, earning an M.S. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1957 and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. Following his Ph.D., he began his academic career at Syracuse University and later spent time at Mechanical Technology Inc. In 1968, he joined Northwestern University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering as an associate professor. He rose to full professor and was later named Walter P. Murphy Professor. He became professor emeritus in 2003.
Herb met his wife, Lily Hsiung, at the University of Chicago’s International House. They married in 1953 and raised four children during their 69 years together.
Over a career spanning more than a half-century in academia and industry, Herb made foundation contributions to the science of lubrication, tackling complex problems in elastohydrodynamic, thermal-elastohydrodynamic, gas-dynamic, plastohydrodynamic, and mixed lubrication. Among his many achievements, he was the first to predict the stability threshold of self-acting gas journal bearings, known for severe self-excited fractional whirling, using a novel Galerkin method. He provided the first comprehensive solution to thermal-elastohydrodynamic lubrication (TEHD) problems by accounting for side leakage, the pressure-viscosity relationship, inlet heating, and transient issues. His research improved the understanding of non-contacting seals, including those used in supersonic transport (SST) engines and in stern-tube seals for deep submergence submarines. Herb introduced the first plastohydrodynamic lubrication model for high-speed cold rolling of metallic strips and discovered the phenomenon of plastic roughening caused by a liquid-film behavior during forging. He also contributed extensively to numerical methods for solving elastohydrodynamic equations, mixed-lubrication analyses, and simulation of engine and powertrain components. His work advanced an understanding of scuffing and rolling contact fatigue in rolling-element bearings, spur and spiral bevel gears, and other components – benefiting applications in as diverse as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Shuttle, domestic and foreign cars, nuclear-powered submarines, and medical joint replacement implants.
One of his most enduring theoretical contributions was the average flow model, also known as the average Reynolds equation, which enabled the design of lubrication systems for engineered components by accounting for realistic surface roughness. This model was first introduced in a seminal paper co-authored with his former graduate student, Nadir Patir, titled, “An Average Flow Model for Determining Effects of Three-Dimensional Roughness on Partial Hydrodynamic Lubrication.”2 The model incorporates the effects of surface roughness on lubricant flows, with flow factors quantified through numerical simulations. Together with a follow-up paper, “Application of Average Flow Model to Lubrication Between Rough Sliding Surfaces,”3 the Patir-Cheng average flow model has been cited more than 5,050 times. Today, it is widely used in lubrication design and has been integrated into several commercial software programs supporting the development of internal combustion engines and many other mechanical systems.
At Northwestern, Herb maintained long-time collaborations with several esteemed colleagues: the late Leon M. Keer (NAE 1997) on contact mechanics, the late Morris E. Fine (NAE 1973) on materials for components, Yip-Wah Chung on surface engineering and spectroscopy, Peter Stair on tribochemistry, and Jane Wang (NAE 2023) on computational tribology. He also initiated the concept of the Center for Engineering Tribology (CET). Under his leadership – and through the collaborative efforts of Keer, Chung, Fine, Stair, and others – CET was established in 1984 as the first and only Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC) in tribology in the nation, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). CET later evolved into the Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology (CSET), continuing as an NSF-funded IUCRC in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1994 to 2004. Today, CSET remains active as a research center at Northwestern, working with industry partners to address real-world tribology challenges.
Herb also served the research communities through numerous leadership roles. He chaired the Fluid-Film Bearing Committee from 1973 to 1975, the Joint-Honor Committee from 1976 to 1978, the Joint-Activity Committee from 1977 to the early 1980s, and the Research Committee on Tribology from 1979 to 1981 within the Lubrication Division of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He participated in many technical conference committees and editorial boards and served as an associate editor for various technical journals.
Herb’s groundbreaking contributions brought him national and international recognition. He was elected fellow of the ASME in 1982 and received several of the highest honors in his field, including the National Award in 1987 from the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) and the Mayo D. Hersey Award in 1990, the highest honor bestowed by ASME’s Tribology Division. In 1992, he was awarded the Tribology Gold Medal from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in London – widely regarded as the most prestigious international award in tribology. In addition to these honors, he received the ASME Lubrication Division’s Best Paper Award in 1971. His work with a former graduate student, Shifeng Wu, was recognized with a Best Paper Award from ASME’s Tribology Division in 1991. Two papers co-authored with former student Jane Wang received the 1997 Captain Alfred E. Hunt Award from STLE. In 1987, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his pioneering contributions to the tribology of gas, elastohydrodynamic, plastohydrodynamic, and mixed lubrication, as well as for his leadership in advancing collaborative university-industrial research.
“We were sad to hear of the passing of Professor Herbert Cheng, who had been a giant in the field of tribology. Herb’s fame has been a part of our departmental history that has shaped what our department is today,” said Wei Chen (NAE 2019), chair of Northwestern’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, at a memorial service honoring him.
Herb was a tireless researcher and a prolific author of technical book chapters and papers. He served as a role model, guide, and lifelong friend to many of his graduate students and associates. “We were all fortunate to be his graduate students,” said Shifeng Wu. “We are all indebted to him for his high-level teaching and for training us to be who we are today.” Herb was widely respected by colleagues, students, and peers in the research community. Herb will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by those who worked with him and called him a friend. His legacy lives on in the many graduate students he trained, who have gone on to distinguished careers and leadership roles in universities and the broader mechanical engineering community, both nationally and internationally.
While he flourished professionally, Herb was especially proud of his family. Over 69 years, Herb and Lily lived out their strong faith as they raised four children. He is survived by Lily; his children Elaine (Bob) Sinclair, Elise Denneny, Edward (Sonja) Cheng, and Earl (Noreen) Cheng; and his grandchildren James (Elizabeth) and Jacquelline Denneny; Mary, Christopher, John, Garrett, and Kevin Cheng; and Alexander and Christina Cheng. Herb enjoyed international travel and adventure, and he loved sharing his passions for Beijing-style opera, Chinese cooking, fishing, and sports with his family and friends.
“Professor Cheng’s passion for his work, combined with his exemplary teaching, inspired younger generations to pursue their academic aspirations and career goals. His life has left a permanent mark on the field through the scholars and engineers he trained,” said Wei Chen. His contributions will be long remembered – along with his kindness, humility, persistence, and wisdom.
________________________ 1This tribute was excerpted in part from the obituary by Brian Sandalow on the website of Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and the memorial service to honor Herb. 2Journal of Lubrication Technology 100(1):12-17. January 1978. 3Journal of Lubrication Technology 101(2):229-230. April 1979.