Viscoelastic depinning of driven systems: mean-field plastic scallops

We have investigated the mean-field dynamics of an overdamped viscoelastic medium driven through quenched disorder. The model allows for the coexistence of pinned and sliding regions and can exhibit continuous elastic depinning or first-order hysteretic depinning. Numerical simulations indicate mean-field instabilities that correspond to macroscopic stick-slip events and lead to premature switching. The model describes the elastic and plastic dynamics of driven vortex arrays in superconductors and other extended disordered systems.     

Microstructure, chemical bonds, and friction properties of nanocrystalline diamond films deposited in two different plasma media

Nanocrystalline diamond films with the properties dependent on the composition of the gaseous medium have been prepared using the microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) method. A nanocrystalline film formed in the Ar/CH₄ plasma is characterized by a high crystallinity factor, a small grain size, a large fraction of sp ²-amorphous carbon, and, consequently, by an increase in the hardness and elastic modulus. The low value of the friction coefficient of this film is associated with the small grain size and large fraction of the sp ²-amorphous carbon boundary phase that ensures an easy sliding. The contact angle of the film is small (hydrophilic properties) in the case when the plasma consists of an Ar/CH₄ mixture. It has been shown that the wetting properties of the films are provided by a thin layer of carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups passivating the dangling bonds at the surface that are responsible for the boundary lubrication mechanism. It has also been found that the friction coefficient of these films is inversely proportional to the contact pressure dependent on the diameter of the sliding counterbody ball.     

A TiB2 metal matrix composite coating enriched with nitrogen: Microstructure and wear properties

Metal matrix composites containing titanium nitrides or titanium borides raise great interest to researchers due to their high wear resistance and enhanced corrosion properties. In the present investigation composite coatings containing both titanium nitrides/carbonitrides and titanium diborides were produced on plain steel substrates using the plasma transferred arc (PTA) technique with argon-nitrogen mixtures in the plasma and shielding gas. The microstructure of the metal matrix composites (MMC) obtained was thoroughly studied and found to consist of primary titanium diboride particles surrounded by a eutectic matrix containing, apart from ferrite, both titanium diboride and titanium carbonitride particles. The wear behavior of the composite coatings was assessed by pin on disk experiments. The wear rate against both a tool steel counterbody and an alumina counterbody is of the order of 10⁻⁴ mm³/m. The friction coefficient for both the alloyed layer-tool steel system and the alloyed layer-alumina system increases up to sliding speed of 0.30 m/s and then decreases, when the sliding speed increases further. Specifically, the friction coefficients are varied between the values 0.5 and 0.65. The wear mechanism for the tribosystem alloyed layer-tool steel is characterized by plastic deformation and adherence of material coming from the alloyed layer to the surface of the ball, while for the tribosystem alloyed layer-alumina ball, severe plastic deformation and formation of oxide layer are observed.     

Instabilities in the sliding of continua with surface inertias: An initiation mechanism for brake noise

This paper presents a model for friction-induced vibration in brake systems, which takes a homogeneous tribological layer on the brake pad into account. The derived model consists of two flat elastic bodies sliding against each other with a constant coefficient of friction. In brake tribology, like in most tribological processes, a surface structure is observed, which can be modeled as an additional film of homogenized mass distribution bonded on the moving continua. The developed mechanical model and its analytical solution show an excitation mechanism that bases on the interaction of normal and frictional shear force and on the elastic coupling of spatial directions. The derived solution allows to study stability and eigenforms of the sliding process: on the frictional plane traveling surface waves are generated, with stability properties depending on parameters of the tribological layer. A parameter study analyzes the frictional couple of brake disk and pad and the related surface state. It is found that increasing inertias of surface structures on the pad strengthen instabilities of the sliding system. A comparison with experiments suggests a similar dependency between surface state and stability as observed by the model under discussion.     

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.     

Melting mechanisms at the limit of superheating

The atomic-scale details during melting of a surface-free Lennard-Jones crystal were monitored using molecular dynamics simulations. Melting occurs when the superheated crystal spontaneously generates a sufficiently large number of spatially correlated destabilized particles that simultaneously satisfy the Lindemann and Born instability criteria. The accumulation and coalescence of these internal local lattice instabilities constitute the primary mechanism for homogeneous melt nucleation inside the crystal, in lieu of surface nucleation for equilibrium melting. The vibrational and elastic lattice instability criteria as well as the homogeneous nucleation theory all coincide in determining the superheating limit.     

Dynamic stability of fcc crystals under isotropic loading from first principles

Lattice dynamics and stability of four fcc crystals (Al, Ir, Pt and Au) under isotropic (hydrostatic) tensile loading are studied from first principles using the linear response method and the harmonic approximation. The results reveal that, contrary to former expectations, strengths of all the studied crystals are limited by instabilities related to soft phonons with finite or vanishing wavevectors. The critical strains associated with such instabilities are remarkably lower than those related to the volumetric instability. On the other hand, the corresponding reduction of the tensile strength is by 20% at the most. An analysis of elastic stability conditions is also performed and the results obtained by means of both approaches are compared.     

Elastic properties of polymer networks with sliding junctions

This paper proposes simple models of polymer networks with sliding junctions for molecular simulation and reports the main results obtained by Brownian dynamics on the elastic properties of networks with tri-functional sliding junctions. The stress-strain relation for isotropic swelling and uniaxial deformation are obtained and compared with those of the conventional chemical gels. We find that mobility and distribution of sliding junctions along the polymer chains drastically change with deformation, and lead to new profiles of the stress. We also find that sliding junctions aggregate by deformation, resulting in the decrease in the number of elastically effective chains.     

Inelastic neutron scattering and lattice dynamics of minerals

We review current research on minerals using inelastic neutron scattering and lattice dynamics calculations. Inelastic neutron scattering studies in combination with first principles and atomistic calculations provide a detailed understanding of the phonon dispersion relations, density of states and their manifestations in various thermodynamic properties. The role of theoretical lattice dynamics calculations in the planning, interpretation and analysis of neutron experiments are discussed. These studies provide important insights in understanding various anomalous behaviour including pressure-induced amorphization, phonon and elastic instabilities, prediction of novel high pressure phase transitions, high pressure-temperature melting, etc.      

A numerical study on stick-slip motion of a brake pad in steady sliding

A numerical model for an elastic brake pad sliding under constant load and with constant velocity over a rigid surface is investigated by finite element analysis. The geometry is taken to be two-dimensional, the contact is assumed to follow the laws of continuum mechanics and temporal and spatial resolution are such that dynamical effects localized at the interface are resolved. It turns out that at the contact interface localized slip events occur either in the form of long-lasting slip pulses, or in the form of brief local relaxations. Macroscopically steady sliding, macroscopic stick-slip motion or slip-separation dynamics occurs, depending on the macroscopic relative velocity. While structural oscillations of the brake pad do not seem to play a significant role during steady sliding at least one structural oscillation mode becomes synchronized with the interfacial dynamics during stick-slip or slip-separation motion. Assuming a given friction law for the interface, the macroscopically observed friction coefficient depends considerably on the underlying dynamics on the interface.     

A method for tractable dynamical studies of single and double shock compression

A new multiscale simulation method is formulated for the study of shocked materials. The method combines molecular dynamics and the Euler equations for compressible flow. Treatment of the difficult problem of the spontaneous formation of multiple shock waves due to material instabilities is enabled with this approach. The method allows the molecular dynamics simulation of the system under dynamical shock conditions for orders of magnitude longer time periods than is possible using the popular nonequilibrium molecular dynamics approach. An example calculation is given for a model potential for silicon in which a computational speedup of 10(5) is demonstrated. Results of these simulations are consistent with the recent experimental observation of an anomalously large elastic precursor on the nanosecond time scale.     

FRICTION-INDUCED VIBRATION IN PERIODIC LINEAR ELASTIC MEDIA

For a one-dimensional finite elastic continuum with distributed contacts and periodic boundary conditions, the presence of unstable waves is investigated. The stability of the waves is evaluated and explanations for instabilities under a constant coefficient of friction are provided. A negative slope in the coefficient of friction as a function of sliding speed is not a necessary condition for the occurrence of dynamic instability. Dynamic instability occurs in the form of self-excited, unstable, travelling waves. The stabilizing effects of external and internal damping were studied. Low- and high-frequency terms of the travelling waves are stabilized by adding external and internal damping respectively. Responses corresponding to unstable eigenvalues can dominate the system response. It is presumed that this can lead to squeaking or squealing noise in applications.     

Magnetovolume instability in FCC iron-nickel alloys

The possibility of magnetic and elastic instabilities is pointed out from the thermodynamic aspects of the magnetovolume properties of a ferromagnet, and the instabilities, Invar anomalies and martensitic transformations in fcc iron-nickel alloys are discussed.     

On the role of pressure in elasto-inertial turbulence

The dynamics of elasto-inertial turbulence is investigated numerically from the perspective of the coupling between polymer dynamics and flow structures. In particular, direct numerical simulations of channel flow with Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 6000 are used to study the formation and dynamics of elastic instabilities and their effects on the flow. Based on the splitting of the pressure into inertial and polymeric contributions, it is shown that the polymeric pressure is a non-negligible component of the total pressure fluctuations, although the rapid inertial part dominates. Unlike Newtonian flows, the slow inertial part is almost negligible in elasto-inertial turbulence. Statistics on the different terms of the Reynolds stress transport equation also illustrate the energy transfers between polymers and turbulence and the redistributive role of pressure. Finally, the trains of cylindrical structures around sheets of high polymer extension that are characteristics of elasto-inertial turbulence are shown to be correlated with the polymeric pressure fluctuations.     

Constrained grain-boundary sliding and inelasticity of polycrystals

A model of inelastic behavior of polycrystals that is based on the idea of constrained grain-boundary sliding is developed. This model assumes that grain-boundary sliding is accommodated only through grain elastic deformation, which is valid under low stresses. By way of examples, the dynamic inelastic behavior and a decrease in the elastic moduli of polycrystals subjected to a small-amplitude ultrasonic field are investigated. It is shown that some of the available experimental data obtained on ultra-fine-grained materials can be explained in terms of the model. The theory predicts that the decrease in the elastic moduli is a size effect that is bound to be observed when the grain size is small. These predictions are supported experimentally.     

冲击波在纳米金属铜中传播的分子动力学模拟

使用分子动力学方法模拟了冲击波在纳米金属铜中的传播,模拟样品由Voronoi方法得到.结果显示纳米金属铜在冲击加载下呈现多次屈服的现象,并发现冲击波具有多波结构.由于设计样品时选择了晶粒取向,晶界滑移和位错在冲击波波形上被区分开.冲击波波阵面由弹性变形区、晶界滑移主导的塑性变形区和位错主导的塑性变形区组成.样品中弹性波前沿扰动较小,而位错主导的塑性波前沿扰动较大,造成后者的主要原因是波阵面上沿冲击方向不同取向晶粒的不同屈服行为.     

Surface morphological response of crystalline solids to mechanical stresses and electric fields

Surface morphological evolution under the action of external fields is a fascinating topic that has attracted considerable attention within the surface science community over the past two decades. In addition to the interest in a fundamental understanding of field-induced nonlinear response and stability of surface morphology, the problem has been technologically significant in various engineering applications such as microelectronics and nanofabrication. In this report, we review theoretical progress in modeling the surface morphological response of stressed elastic solids under conditions that promote surface diffusion and of electrically conducting solids under surface electromigration conditions. A self-consistent model of surface transport and morphological evolution is presented that has provided the basis for the theoretical and computational work that is reviewed. According to this model, the surface morphological response of electrically conducting elastic solids to the simultaneous action of mechanical stresses and electric fields is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on metallic surfaces, including surfaces of voids in metallic thin films.Surfaces of stressed elastic solids are known to undergo morphological instabilities, such as the Asaro–Tiller or Grinfeld (ATG) instability that leads to emanation of crack-like features from the surface and their fast propagation into the bulk of the solid material. This instability is analyzed theoretically, simulated numerically, and compared with experimental measurements. The surface morphological evolution of electrically conducting, single-crystalline, stressed elastic solids under surface electromigration conditions is also examined. We demonstrate that, through surface electromigration, a properly applied and sufficiently strong electric field can stabilize the surface morphology of the stressed solid against both crack-like ATG instabilities and newly discovered secondary rippling instabilities; the effects of important parameters, such as surface crystallographic orientation, on the surface morphological response to the simultaneous action of an electric field and mechanical stress also are reviewed. In addition, electromigration-driven surface morphological response is analyzed systematically, focusing on the current-driven surface morphological evolution of voids in metallic thin films; this analysis has been motivated largely by the crucial role of void dynamics in determining the reliability of metallic interconnects in integrated circuits and has led to the interpretation of a large body of experimental observations and measurements. The electromigration-driven translational motion of morphologically stable voids, effects of current-driven void dynamics on the evolution of the electrical resistance of metallic thin films, and current-driven void–void interactions also are reviewed. Furthermore, theoretical studies are reviewed that demonstrated very interesting current-driven nonlinear void dynamics in stressed metallic thin films, including the inhibition of electromigration-induced instabilities due to the action of biaxial tensile stress, and stress effects on the electromigration-driven translational motion of morphologically stable voids.Complex, oscillatory surface states under surface electromigration conditions have been observed in numerical studies. In this report, emphasis is placed on void surfaces in metallic thin films, for which stable time-periodic states have been demonstrated. It is shown that increasing parameters such as the electric-field strength or the void size past certain critical values leads to morphological transitions from steady to time-periodic states; the latter states are characterized by wave propagation on the surface of a void that migrates along the metallic film at constant speed. The transition onset corresponds to a Hopf bifurcation that may be either supercritical or subcritical, depending on the symmetry of the surface diffusional anisotropy as determined by the crystallographic orientation of the film plane. It is also shown that, in the case where the Hopf bifurcation is subcritical, the simultaneous action of mechanical stress leads the current-driven void morphological response to the stabilization of chaotic attractors; in such cases, as the applied stress level increases, the void dynamics is set on a route to chaos through a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations. The observation of current-driven chaotic dynamics in homoepitaxial islands also is discussed.     

A measurement of elastic moduli for tungsten films on polymer substrate using wrinkling analysis

The elastic moduli of ultra thin tungsten (W) films on polymers were assessed with wrinkling analysis. Thin W films with a range of thickness between 17 and 100 nm were deposited on compliant polymers and Si strips using DC magnetron sputtering method, causing the tensile stress in a few GPa scale with respect to the thickness of W films. By applying lateral compression on polymer, wrinkle patterns were developed in the W thin film with well-defined amplitude and wavelength. Using a simple equation on wrinkle analysis, the range of elastic moduli was estimated with increasing the thickness. It was found that the elastic modulus and the tensile stress decreased with increasing the film thickness.