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research article

Dry sliding contact between rough surfaces at the atomistic scale

Spijker, Peter  
•
Anciaux, Guillaume  
•
Molinari, Jean-François  
2011
Tribology Letters

Although, a lot is known about the factors contributing to friction, a complete physical understanding of the origins of friction is still lacking. At the macroscale several laws have long since described the relation between load (Amontons, Coulomb), apparent and real area of contact (Bowden and Tabor), and frictional forces. But it is not yet completely understood if these laws of friction extend all the way down to the atomistic level. Some current research suggests that a linear dependence of friction on the real contact area is observed at the atomistic level, but only for specific cases (indentors and rigid substrates). Because continuum models are not applicable at the atomic scale, other modeling techniques (such as molecular dynamics simulations) are necessary to elucidate the physics of friction at the small scale. We use molecular dynamics simulations to model the friction of two rough deformable surfaces, while changing the surface roughness, the sliding speed, and the applied normal load. We find that friction increases with roughness. Also all sliding cases show considerable surface flattening, reducing the friction close to zero after repetitive sliding. This questions the current view of (static) roughness at the atomistic scale, and possibly indicates that the macroscopic laws of friction break down several orders of magnitude before reaching the atomic scale.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1007/s11249-011-9846-y
Web of Science ID

WOS:000295172200017

Author(s)
Spijker, Peter  
Anciaux, Guillaume  
Molinari, Jean-François  
Date Issued

2011

Publisher

Springer US

Published in
Tribology Letters
Volume

44

Start page

279

End page

285

Subjects

Nanotribology

•

Molecular simulation

•

Surface roughness

•

Friction

Note

National Licences

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LSMS  
Available on Infoscience
September 15, 2011
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/70961
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