Bending of Soft Micropatterns in Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Tribology

Background

Soft tribology is increasingly important in the design and engineering of materials used in robotics, haptics, and biomechanics studies. When patterned surfaces are part of a lubricated tribopair that undergoes sliding and compressive deformation, the patterns experience a bending strain that affects the lubrication film thickness and elastohydrodynamic friction. The contribution of bending patterns to soft tribology is not well understood because earlier studies focused on hard tribopairs with effectively flat surfaces.

Objective

We investigate and model the differences in lubricated friction for poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) elastomer and PEGDA/alginate double network hydrogel patterns in order to determine the effect of height-to-width aspect ratio and bending angle on the elastohydrodynamic friction.

Methods

Photoresists of two different viscosities are spin coated onto silicon substrates to fabricate molds with pattern heights ranging from 20 μm to 50 μm.

Results

Tribological characterization of the tribopairs in the elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime shows that the patterns generate a friction peak that is independent of aspect ratio for short patterns but displays a “power-law fit” decrease with increasing aspect ratio for taller patterns. Two independent models are used to estimate the theoretical bending and deflection angles for the tribopairs.

Conclusions

The decrease in lubricated friction is attributed to taller patterns having large bending angles and a reduced effective surface for fluid load bearing. Results suggest that the bending of micropatterns could be harnessed to engineer lubricated friction in a variety of applications.

     

Theory of dry friction of rubbery materials

Friction of solids involves short-range forces between adjacent surface layers, which are largely determined by the shape and structure of those layers, which are themselves determined to a considerable extent by the relative velocity. A theory of friction thus involves the microstructure and the detailed physical phenomena near the surfaces.However, most existing theories are based on phenomenological (essentially macroscopic) concepts (see [1] for a survey), though the explicit use of microscopic concepts is presented in [2], where it is shown that one elastic body sliding over another gives rise to elastic waves that carry energy away from the contact surface. This loss may be treated formally as due to a tangential force resisting the motion. The force defined in this way has a falling velocity characteristic.There is much evidence that the friction differs greatly from that for ordinary elastic bodies if one body (or both) should be highly elastic (rubber, polymer, etc) [3]. A model describing these differences would be of considerable interest.Here we consider the somewhat idealized ease of a rubbery body sliding over a crystalline one; the frictional force is deduced as a function of the velocity and other parameters. The surfaces are taken as smooth and clean, while the bodies are homogeneous. Various simplifying assumptions are made, but these are unimportant from the qualitative standpoint.We are indebted to G. I. Barenblatt for a discussion.     

Dynamic Subsurface Deformation and Strain of Soft Hydrogel Interfaces Using an Embedded Speckle Pattern With 2D Digital Image Correlation

Background

Subsurface mechanisms can greatly affect the mechanical behavior of biological materials, but observation of these mechanisms has remained elusive primarily due to unfavorable optical characteristics. Researchers attempt to overcome these limitations by performing experiments in biological mimics like hydrogels, but measurements are generally restricted due to the spatio-temporal limitations of current methods.

Objective

Utilization of contemporary 3D printing techniques into soft, transparent, aqueous yield-stress materials have opened new avenues of approach to overcoming these roadblocks. By incorporating digital image correlation with such 3D printing techniques, a method is shown here that can acquire full-field deformation of a hydrogel subsurface in real-time.

Methods

Briefly, the method replaces the solvent of a transparent and low polymer concentration yield-stress material with an aqueous hydrogel precursor solution, then a DIC speckle plane is 3D printed into it. This complex is then polymerized using photoinitiation thereby locking the speckle plane in place.

Results

Full-field deformation measurements are made in real-time as the embedded speckle plane (ESP) responds with the bulk to the applied load. Example results of deformation and strain fields associated with indentation, relaxation, and sliding contact experiments are shown.

Conclusions

This method has successfully observed the subsurface mechanical response in the bulk of a hydrogel and has the potential to answer fundamental questions regarding biological material mechanical behaviors.

     

聚合物／无机纳米复合材料润滑油添加剂的摩擦学功能设计

选择3种具有不同抗磨性能的纳米组分,制备了具有不同界面特性的聚合物／无机纳米复合材料;考察了纳米复合材料的减摩抗磨性能和机理,探讨了关于纳米复合材料润滑油添加剂的摩擦学功能设计准则。结果表明：对聚合物与无机纳米组分界面进行设计优化后能明显提高纳米复合材料的摩擦学性能。实现聚合物与无机纳米组分界面的优化设计后,聚合物与无机纳米组分之间具有更好的相容性,无机纳米组分在聚合物基体中分布更均匀;当聚合物基体在摩擦热和剪切作用下熔融分解后,裸露出来的具有高活性的无机纳米组分可在摩擦副接触表面形成具有良好摩擦学性能的表面膜。     

A self-aligning parallel plate (SAPP) fixture for tribology and high shear rheometry

This paper introduces a novel self-aligning parallel plate fixture for rotational rheometers. The ring-shaped shearing surface of this fixture is held on a low friction single contact point bearing and uses hydrodynamic lubrication forces in order to maintain the parallelism of the freely tilting surfaces over a full rotation. The optimized parallelism of the plates enables to conduct tribological measurements of low frictional stress between the shearing surface materials and a fluid at normal loads down to 1.3 kPa. Limited only by the degree of non-flatness of the surfaces, the new fixture can determine boundary lubrication sliding frictions within 10 % and down to angular velocities of 400 μrad/s. In a controlled gap mode, this setup reaches a gap error of 3.4 μm which enables to reliably conduct rheological measurements down to absolute gaps of the parallel plates of 10 μm and to reach high shear rates up to $10^{5}\;{\rm s}^{-1}$ .     

A slip-line plasticity analysis of sliding friction of rough surfaces exhibiting self-affine (fractal) behavior

A plasticity analysis of sliding friction of rough (fractal) surfaces sliding against smooth surfaces was developed based on a slip-line model of a rigid spherical asperity (wear particle) plowing and cutting through a soft semi-infinite medium. Solutions of the fraction of fully plastic asperity microcontacts responsible for the evolution of friction and energy dissipation were obtained in terms of the total normal load (global interference), interfacial adhesion characteristics, topography (fractal) parameters of the hard surface, and elastic–plastic material properties of the soft surface. This was accomplished by incorporating the slip-line model of a single microcontact into a friction analysis of sliding surfaces demonstrating multi-scale roughness. Numerical results provide insight into the effects of global interference (normal load), fractal parameters (surface roughness) of the hard surface, interfacial shear strength (adhesion), and material properties of the soft surface on plastic deformation at the microcontact level, global coefficient of friction, and frictional energy dissipated during sliding.     

微液滴在PDMS软基体表面的动态摩擦行为研究

通过固液界面摩擦力测试装置研究了微液滴在PDMS软基体表面运动时的动态摩擦学行为,并对微液滴体积、滑动速度及软基体力学性能对固液界面动态摩擦行为的影响进行了分析. 结果表明:微液滴在软基体表面运动时表现出最大静摩擦力和动态摩擦力. 最大静摩擦力与微液滴黏度和速度梯度呈正比,动态摩擦力与微液滴体积、滑动速度和基体力学性能有关. 随着微液滴体积的增加,三相接触线长度增加,动态摩擦力增加;随着相对滑动速度增加,三相接触线长度及接触角滞后增加,动态摩擦力增加;随着软基体弹性模量降低,固液界面黏附力增加,固液界面运动能量耗散增加,动态摩擦力增加. 研究结果可为PDMS软基体表面微液滴的精确驱动和运动参数优化提供理论指导,也可进一步丰富固液界面摩擦理论.      

GCr15钢-CVDCr_7C_3镀层摩擦副摩擦振动的研究

本文系统地研究了GCr15钢球-CVDCr_7C_3镀层钢盘摩擦副滑动干摩擦引起的摩擦力(切向力)振动特性及其对材料摩擦磨损性能的影响。试件系统在垂直和水平方向上均处于低刚度、小阻尼状态。试验信号由微机采集、处理并进行频谱分析。结果表明,摩擦力振动的类型与正压力有关,而与拖动速度无关;摩擦力呈周期性自持振动时具有与相对滑动速度典型的非线性关系,振动频率接近(略低)于系统在切向的固有频率,而与拖动速度无关;摩擦力呈非平稳随机振动时,振动频率与系统在法向的振动频率有关,而与系统在切向的固有频率及拖动速度都无关;摩擦偶件运动的平稳性与摩擦力振动的类型有关,而与平均摩擦系数无关;摩擦力所耗费的能量与正压力呈比例关系。     

Wave-modulated orbits in rate-and-state friction

A frictional spring-block system has been widely used historically as a model to display some of the features of two slabs in sliding frictional contact. Putelat et al. (2008) [7] demonstrated that equations governing the sliding of two slabs could be approximated by spring-block equations, and studied relaxation oscillations for two slabs driven by uniform relative motion at their outer surfaces, employing this approximation. The present work revisits this problem. The equations of motion are first formulated exactly, with full allowance for wave reflections. Since the sliding is restricted to be independent of position on the interface, this leads to a set of differential-difference equations in the time domain. Formal but systematic asymptotic expansions reduce the equations to differential equations. Truncation of the differential system at the lowest non-trivial order reproduces a classical spring-block system, but with a slightly different “equivalent mass” than was obtained in the earlier work. Retention of the next term gives a new system, of higher order, that contains also some explicit effects of wave reflections. The smooth periodic orbits that result from the spring-block system in the regime of instability of steady sliding are “decorated” by an oscillation whose period is related to the travel time of the waves across the slabs. The approximating differential system reproduces this effect with reasonable accuracy when the mean sliding velocity is not too far from the critical velocity for the steady state. The differential system also displays a period-doubling bifurcation as the mean sliding velocity is increased, corresponding to similar behaviour of the exact differential-difference system.     

On the sliding instabilities at rough surfaces

In this paper, the onset of sliding between two elastic half-spaces in contact, subjected to a tangential force, is studied within the framework of critical phenomena. First, it is shown that the contact domain between two rough surfaces is a lacunar set and that the distribution of contact stresses is multifractal. By applying an increasing tangential force, under constant normal load, the so-called regime of partial-slip comes into play. However, the continuous and smooth transition to full sliding, predicted by the classical Cattaneo-Mindlin theory, is not confirmed by the experiments, which show marked frictional instabilities. A numerical multi-scale procedure is proposed, taking into account the redistribution of stress, consequent to partial-slip, among the contact areas at all scales. It is shown that the lacunarity of the contact domain delays the onset of instability, when compared to compact Euclidean domains. Independently of the assumptions made for the frictional behaviour at the scale of the asperities (Coulomb friction for meso-scale asperities, adhesion for micro-scales), renormalization permits the critical value of the tangential force which provides the instability to be found. Moreover, the multifractal analysis of the domains where the shear resistance is activated captures the size-scale effects on the friction coefficient, currently evidenced by the experiments.     

MoSx掺杂DLC薄膜的摩擦磨损行为Ⅱ:速度的影响

采用RF-PECVD与磁控溅射复合技术制备了MoSx掺杂的DLC(a-C:H:Mo:S)薄膜,并对其组成、表面形貌、纳米硬度及热稳定性进行了分析.在QG-700摩擦试验机上考察了其在不同滑动速度下的摩擦行为.通过对摩擦表面的光学显微观察、扫描电镜(SEM)观察及能谱(EDS)分析,简单探讨了其摩擦磨损机理.结果表明:随着速度的增加,a-C:H:Mo:S/Si3N4体系的摩擦系数先升高后降低,而磨损率则表现出相反的变化趋势.分析认为摩擦系数的升高与高湿度下薄膜表面的氧化反应有关,而降低则主要是由于石墨化所致.     

高速运动条件下玄武岩摩擦系数的实验研究

在MM－1000型摩擦磨损试验机上采用不同试验条件对玄武岩试件进行了高速摩擦试验研究,结果表明：摩擦表面载荷、运动速度以及摩擦速度以及摩擦表面特性等因素均对摩擦系数产生影响;摩擦系数随载荷的增大呈现减小趋势;对于饱和吸水试件,摩擦系数随运动速度增大持续降低;在其它试验条件下,饱和吸水试件的动摩擦系数比干燥试件明显要低。     

MoSx掺杂DLC薄膜的摩擦磨损行为Ⅰ:载荷的影响

采用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积与非平衡磁控溅射复合技术制备了MoSx掺杂的DLC薄膜(a-C:H:Mo:S),在QG-700摩擦试验机上考察了其在不同载荷下的摩擦磨损行为.通过对摩擦表面的扫描电镜(SEM)观察及能谱(EDS)分析,简单探讨了其摩擦磨损机理.结果表明:随着载荷的增加,a-C:H:Mo:S/Si3N4体系的摩擦系数及磨损率均呈先降后升的趋势,在高速下尤为明显.初步分析认为该现象与摩擦热效应导致的接触层结构转化相关.     

Numerical and experimental analysis of the bi-stable state for frictional continuous system

Unstable friction-induced vibrations are considered an annoying problem in several fields of engineering. Although several theoretical analyses have suggested that friction-excited dynamical systems may experience sub-critical bifurcations, and show multiple coexisting stable solutions, these phenomena need to be proved experimentally and on continuous systems. The present work aims to partially fill this gap. The dynamical response of a continuous system subjected to frictional excitation is investigated. The frictional system is constituted of a 3D printed oscillator, obtained by additive manufacturing that slides against a disc rotating at a prescribed velocity. Both a finite element model and an experimental setup has been developed. It is shown both numerically and experimentally that in a certain range of the imposed sliding velocity the oscillator has two stable states, i.e. steady sliding and stick–slip oscillations. Furthermore, it is possible to jump from one state to the other by introducing an external perturbation. A parametric analysis is also presented, with respect to the main parameters influencing the nonlinear dynamic response, to determine the interval of sliding velocity where the oscillator presents the two stable solutions, i.e. steady sliding and stick–slip limit cycle.

     

Two-dimensional thermoelastic contact problem of functionally graded materials involving frictional heating

The two-dimensional thermoelastic sliding frictional contact of functionally graded material (FGM) coated half-plane under the plane strain deformation is investigated in this paper. A rigid punch is sliding over the surface of the FGM coating with a constant velocity. Frictional heating, with its value proportional to contact pressure, friction coefficient and sliding velocity, is generated at the interface between the punch and the FGM coating. The material properties of the coating vary exponentially along the thickness direction. In order to solve the heat conduction equation analytically, the homogeneous multi-layered model is adopted for treating the graded thermal diffusivity coefficient with other thermomechanical properties being kept as the given exponential forms. The transfer matrix method and Fourier integral transform technique are employed to convert the problem into a Cauchy singular integral equation which is then solved numerically to obtain the unknown contact pressure and the in-plane component of the surface stresses. The effects of the gradient index, Peclet number and friction coefficient on the thermoelastic contact characteristics are discussed in detail. Numerical results show that the distribution of the contact stress can be altered and therefore the thermoelastic contact damage can be modified by adjusting the gradient index, Peclet number and friction coefficient.     

芳纶纤维增强酚醛树脂摩擦材料的磨损机理研究

对芳纶增强酚醛树脂摩擦材料在模拟制动工况下的磨损机理进行了系统的实验研究,结果表明：在试验工况下,两种摩擦材料在与铸铁偶件对摩时均呈现粘着磨损和塑性变形特征;在高速和高压条件下塑性变形加剧,摩擦材料磨损表面可见熔融迹象;摩擦副接触表面发生材料的相互转移,两种摩擦材料均可在偶件表面形成转移膜,且在高速和高压条件下转移膜更易形成;Kevlar纤维作为增强相可以有效地提高摩擦材料的摩擦稳定性,并降低摩擦系数;摩擦材料的磨损机理主要为擦伤作用、粘着磨损和塑性变形。     

超声马达转子摩擦材料磨损特性研究

利用MPX－200型销－盘摩擦磨损试验机和自制的超声马达摩擦特性模拟试验台,考察了摩擦材料在普通滑动试验和超声马达试验条件下的磨损性能,研究了接触预压紧力和负载力矩对转子摩擦材料磨损状态的影响,并借助于扫描电子显微镜和光学显微镜对摩擦材料磨损机理进行分析,指出可用绝对转差率Sf描述超声马达定子和转子相对滑动摩擦磨损程度。结果表明,摩擦材料在超声马达试验条件下的磨损状态与普通滑动试验条件下的不同,普通滑动试验时摩擦材料磨损表面形成了层状覆盖膜,而超声马达转子摩擦材料磨损表面无覆盖膜,其表面呈现犁沟磨损和疲劳剥层磨损特征,这种磨损特征随预压紧力和负载力矩变化而变化,与绝对转差率Sf有关,且存在2个临界转变区。