Contact mechanics and rubber friction for randomly rough surfaces with anisotropic statistical properties

In this paper we extend the theory of contact mechanics and rubber friction developed by one of us (B.N.J. Persson, J. Chem. Phys. 115, 3840 (2001)) to the case of surfaces with anisotropic surface roughness. As an application we calculate the viscoelastic contribution to the rubber friction. We show that the friction coefficient may depend significantly on the sliding direction, while the area of contact depends weakly on the sliding direction. We have carried out experiments for rubber blocks sliding on unidirectionally polished steel surfaces. The experimental data are in a good qualitative agreement with the theory.     

Multimode Active Control of Friction,Dynamic Ratchets and Actuators

Active control of friction by ultrasonic vibration is a well-known effect with numerous technical applications ranging from press forming to micromechanical actuators. Reduction of friction is observed with vibration applied in any of the three possible directions (normal to the contact plane, in the direction of motion and in-plane transverse). In this work, we consider the multi-mode active control of sliding friction, where phase-shifted oscillations in two or more directions act at the same time. Our analysis is based on a macroscopic contact-mechanical model that was recently shown to be well-suited for describing dynamic frictional processes. For simplicity, we limit our analysis to a constant, load-independent normal and tangential stiffness and two superimposed phase-shifted harmonic oscillations, one of them being normal to the plane and the other in the direction of motion. As in previous works utilizing the present model, we assume a constant local coefficient of friction, with reduction of the observed force of friction arising entirely from the macroscopic dynamics of the system. Our numerical simulations show that the resulting law of friction is determined by just three dimensionless parameters. Depending on the values of these parameters, three qualitatively different types of behavior are observed: (a) symmetric velocity-dependence of the coefficient of friction (same for positive and negative velocities), (b) asymmetric dependence with respect to the sign of the velocity, but with zero force at zero velocity, and (c) asymmetric dependence with nonzero force at zero velocity. The latter two cases can be interpreted as a "dynamic ratchet" (b) and an actuator (c).     

Dynamics of the coefficient of friction between a rigid conical indenter and a viscoelastic foundation under step-wise change of sliding velocity

We numerically calculated the coefficient of friction between a rigid cone and a viscoelastic Kelvin body under step-wise change of the velocity of sliding. The time dependence of the coefficient of friction has been empirically approximated. We show that the transition process has different character for the cases of increasing and decreasing of the sliding velocity.     

Rubber friction on smooth surfaces

We study the sliding friction for viscoelastic solids, e.g., rubber, on hard flat substrate surfaces. We consider first the fluctuating shear stress inside a viscoelastic solid which results from the thermal motion of the atoms or molecules in the solid. At the nanoscale the thermal fluctuations are very strong and give rise to stress fluctuations in the MPa-range, which is similar to the depinning stresses which typically occur at solid-rubber interfaces, indicating the crucial importance of thermal fluctuations for rubber friction on smooth surfaces. We develop a detailed model which takes into account the influence of thermal fluctuations on the depinning of small contact patches (stress domains) at the rubber-substrate interface. The theory predicts that the velocity dependence of the macroscopic shear stress has a bell-shaped form, and that the low-velocity side exhibits the same temperature dependence as the bulk viscoelastic modulus, in qualitative agreement with experimental data. Finally, we discuss the influence of small-amplitude substrate roughness on rubber sliding friction.     

Friction and wear of a spherical indenter under influence of out-of-plane ultrasonic oscillations

This paper presents an experimental and theoretical investigation of friction and wear of a spherical indenter. With the pin-on-disc-tribometer the out-of-plane oscillations are applied to the sliding indenter. Oscillations lead to a decrease of the coefficient of friction, and this effect is also related to the sliding velocity and oscillation amplitude. During the sliding movement, the contact area of indenter increases due to the wear of material. This radius of the worn spherical cap is measured after each sliding period. It is found that the radius of the wear flat increases with sliding distance according to a power law with the power 1/4 and is independent of the sliding velocity. It further is practically insensitive to the presence of oscillations. A theoretical analysis and a numerical simulation based on the method of dimensionality reduction are carried out, both describing the experimental data very well.     

Multiscale simulation of friction with normal oscillations in the method of reduction of dimensionality

In the framework of the method of reduction of dimensionality, the dependence of the kinetic coefficient of friction of elastomers with linear rheology on normal loads with a static and an oscillatory part has been examined. It is shown that the sinusoidal excitation leads to a reduction of the coefficient of friction by up to 20 % for a sliding velocity range of two orders of magnitude. The largest reduction of the coefficient of friction occurs at a velocity, which is proportional to the characteristic wave length of the surface and the frequency of the acting normal force.     

Identification and calculation of the universal asymptote for drag reduction by polymers in wall bounded turbulence

Drag reduction by polymers in wall turbulence is bounded from above by a universal maximal drag reduction (MDR) velocity profile that is a log law, estimated experimentally by Virk as V+(y+) approximately 11.7logy+ - 17. Here V+(y+) and y+ are the mean streamwise velocity and the distance from the wall in "wall" units. In this Letter we propose that this MDR profile is an edge solution of the Navier-Stokes equations (with an effective viscosity profile) beyond which no turbulent solutions exist. This insight rationalizes the universality of the MDR and provides a maximum principle which allows an ab initio calculation of the parameters in this law without any viscoelastic experimental input.     

Friction and normal forces of model friction modifier additives in simulations of boundary lubrication

ABSTRACT

Interaction forces between solid surfaces are often mitigated by adsorbed molecules that control normal and friction forces at nanoscale separations. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted of opposing semi-ordered monolayers of united-atom chains on sliding surfaces to relate friction and normal forces to imposed sliding velocity and inter-surface separation. Practical examples include adsorbed friction-modifier molecules in automatic transmission fluids. Friction scenarios in the simulations had zero, one, or two fluid layers trapped between adsorbed monolayers. Sliding friction forces increased with sliding velocity at each stable separation. Lower normal forces were obtained than in most previous nanotribology molecular simulations and were relatively independent of sliding speed. Distinguishing average frictional force from its fluctuations showed the importance of system size. Uniform velocities were obtained in the sliding direction across each adsorbed film, with a gradient across the gap containing trapped fluid. The calculated friction stress was consistent with measurements reported using a surface forces apparatus, indicating that drag between an adsorbed layer and trapped fluid can account sufficiently for sliding friction in friction modifier systems. An example is shown in which changes in molecular organisation parallel to the surface led to a large change in normal force but no change in friction force.     

Detachment of stretched viscoelastic fibrils

New experimental results are presented about the final stage of failure of soft viscoelastic adhesives. A microscopic view of the detachment of the adhesive shows that after cavity growth and expansion, well adhered soft adhesives form a network of fibrils connected to expanded contacting feet which fail via a sliding mechanism, sensitive to interfacial shear stresses rather than by a fracture mechanism as sometimes suggested in earlier work. A mechanical model of this stretching and sliding failure phenomenon is presented which treats the fibril as a nonlinear elastic or viscoelastic rod and the foot as an elastic layer subject to a friction force proportional to the local displacement rate. The force on the stretched rod drives the sliding of the foot against the substrate. The main experimental parameter controlling the failure strain and stress during the sliding process is identified by the model as the normalized probe pull speed, which also depends on the magnitude of the friction and PSA modulus. In addition, the material properties, viscoelasticity and finite extensibility of the polymer chains, are shown to have an important effect on both the details of the sliding process and the ultimate failure strain and stress. Electronic supplementary material Appendix B is only available in electronic form at and are accessible for authorised users.     

What does friction really depend on? Robust governing parameters in contact mechanics and friction

It is known that the coefficient of friction generally depends on a large number of system and loading parameters. Already Coulomb presented experimental evidence that the static coefficient of friction may depend on time, on normal force, on the contact size, on the nature of contacting materials, and on the presence of intermediate lubricant layers. For the sliding coefficient of friction, he observed the dependence on the sliding velocity as well as the force and size dependencies. Later research has shown that the friction coefficient is very sensitive to the presence of oscillations (including self-excited vibrations). In spite of the practical importance of the problem, no generalized laws of friction or empirical procedures for measuring and representing the law of friction have been developed so far, which included at least the following four parameters: contacting body velocity, normal force, shape (and thus implicitly size), and time. In the present paper, we discuss the question of how the dimension of space of governing parameters can be reduced and if a small set of “robust governing parameters” of friction can be identified. We argue that one of such robust governing parameters is the indentation depth (or relative approach) of contacting bodies and discuss further candidates for the role of robust governing parameters.     

Dry friction due to adsorbed molecules

Using an adiabatic approximation method, which searches for Tomlinson-model-like instabilities for a simple but still realistic model for two crystalline surfaces, with mobile molecules present at the interface, sliding relative to each other, we are able to account for the virtually universal occurrence of "dry friction." The model makes important predictions for the dependence of friction on the strength of the interaction of each surface with the mobile molecules.     

Fracture and friction: Stick-slip motion

We discuss the stick-slip motion of an elastic block sliding along a rigid substrate. We argue that for a given external shear stress this system shows a discontinuous nonequilibrium transition from a uniform stick state to uniform sliding at some critical stress which is nothing but the Griffith threshold for crack propagation. An inhomogeneous mode of sliding occurs when the driving velocity is prescribed instead of the external stress. A transition to homogeneous sliding occurs at a critical velocity, which is related to the critical stress. We solve the elastic problem for a steady-state motion of a periodic stick-slip pattern and derive equations of motion for the tip and resticking end of the slip pulses. In the slip regions we use the linear friction law and do not assume any intrinsic instabilities even at small sliding velocities. We find that, as in many other pattern forming system, the steady-state analysis itself does not select uniquely all the internal parameters of the pattern, especially the primary wavelength. Using some plausible analogy to first-order phase transitions we discuss a soft selection mechanism. This allows to estimate internal parameters such as crack velocities, primary wavelength and relative fraction of the slip phase as functions of the driving velocity. The relevance of our results to recent experiments is discussed.     

Velocity dependence of friction and hydrogen bonding effects

We show that the friction force varies with the sliding velocity in a manner that depends on the chemical nature of the interface. Surfaces terminated with the hydrogen acceptor and donor moieties capable of forming H-bond networks exhibit a friction that decreases with sliding velocity, a behavior that is opposite to that of surfaces where no such networks can form. We explain the results with a model where the domains of glassy H-bond networks are disrupted at a critical applied stress leading to slippage.     

Density inversion in rapid granular flows: the supported regime

This paper presents numerical findings on rapid 2D and 3D granular flows on a bumpy base. In the supported regime studied here, a strongly sheared, dilute and agitated layer spontaneously appears at the base of the flow and supports a compact packing of grains moving as a whole. In this regime, the flow behaves like a sliding block on the bumpy base. In particular, for flows on a horizontal base, the average velocity decreases linearly in time and the average kinetic energy decreases linearly with the travelled distance, those features being characteristic of solid-like friction. This allows us to define and measure an effective friction coefficient, which is independent of the mass and velocity of the flow. This coefficient only loosely depends on the value of the micromechanical friction coefficient whereas the infuence of the bumpiness of the base is strong. We give evidence that this dilute and agitated layer does not result in significantly less friction. Finally, we show that a steady regime of supported flows can exist on inclines whose angle is carefully chosen.     

Very low friction for natural diamond in water of different pH values

Very high reductions in the friction coefficient are reported for natural diamond sliding upon natural diamond when water is introduced at the interface of contact. This reduction is found to depend on the pH value of the water, the load and the sliding velocity. The results are interpreted in terms of the reduction of adhesion due to adsorption of the liquid on the surface, and of graphitisation occurring during sliding, with graphite acting as a lubricant. Received 15 September 1999     

An investigation of nanoscale tribological characteristics under different interaction forces

The present study employs a Finite Element Method (FEM) atomic approach to investigate the nanoscale mechanisms of sliding friction. The current investigation chooses diamond-like carbon as the hard material, and copper as the soft material. The atomic configurations following sliding under non-interactive, attractive, and repulsive interaction forces are observed for soft-to-soft, hard-to-soft, and hard-to-hard sliding systems. The relationships between the normal force, the friction force, and the sliding distance are discussed. The current simulation results exhibit a similar trend with the findings of previous studies using molecular dynamics approach.     

Comparative study on electroosmosis modulated flow of MHD viscoelastic fluid in the presence of modified Darcy’s law

Magnetic field plays an important role in numerous fields such as biological, chemical, mechanical and medical research. In clinical and medical research the high field magnets are extremely important to create 3D images of anatomical and diagnostic importance from nuclear magnetic resonance signals. In view of these applications, the purpose of present work is to explore the impact of an external magnetic field on the viscoelastic fluid flow in the existence of electroosmosis, porous medium and slip boundary conditions. The governing equation is modified under the suitable dimensionless quantities. The resulting non-dimensional differential equation is evaluated by analytical as well as numerical (finite difference and cubic B-spline) methods. The convergence analysis is also presented for the numerical methods. The variations of sundry parameters on velocity, volume flow rate and skin friction are presented through graphical representations. The current analysis depicts that, the higher velocities are noticed in viscoelastic fluid as compared with Newtonian fluid. The velocity enhances with rising of slip and Darcy parameters. Volume flow rate rises with the slip and viscoelastic parameters. Skin friction is a decreasing function of zeta potential, Darcy number and Hall current parameter. The limiting solutions can be captured for the Newtonian fluid model by setting the viscoelastic parameter to zero.     

Rolling friction for hard cylinder and sphere on viscoelastic solid

We calculate the friction force acting on a hard cylinder or spherical ball rolling on a flat surface of a viscoelastic solid. The rolling-friction coefficient depends non-linearly on the normal load and the rolling velocity. For a cylinder rolling on a viscoelastic solid characterized by a single relaxation time Hunter has obtained an exact result for the rolling friction, and our result is in very good agreement with his result for this limiting case. The theoretical results are also in good agreement with experiments of Greenwood and Tabor. We suggest that measurements of rolling friction over a wide range of rolling velocities and temperatures may constitute a useful way to determine the viscoelastic modulus of rubber-like materials.     

Effect of the temperature dependence of the viscosity of pseudoplastic lubricants on the boundary friction regime

The boundary friction regime appearing between two atomically smooth solid surfaces with an ultrathin lubricating layer between them is considered. The interrupted (stick-slip) regime of motion typical of the boundary lubrication is represented as a first-order phase transition between the structural states of the lubricant. The thermodynamic and shear melting is described. The universal dependence of the viscosity of high-molecular alkanes (lubricants) on the temperature and velocity gradient is taken into account. The dependence of the friction force on the lubricant temperature and the relative shear velocity of the interacting surfaces are analyzed. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the viscosity makes it possible to describe some experimentally observed effects. The possibility of prolonged damped oscillations after lubricant melting prior to the stabilization of the steady-state sliding mode is predicted. In the stick-slip regime in a wide range of parameters, a reversive motion is observed when the upper block moves in both directions after melting.