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Friction laws at the nanoscale

Author

Listed:
  • Yifei Mo

    (Materials Science Program,)

  • Kevin T. Turner

    (Materials Science Program,
    Department of Mechanical Engineering,
    University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA)

  • Izabela Szlufarska

    (Materials Science Program,
    University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA)

Abstract

Friction at the nanoscale For large objects sliding over one another, the friction force is proportional to the true contact area between the two bodies — which is smaller than the apparent contact area because the surfaces are rough, consisting of a large number of smaller features (asperities) that actually make the contact. The situation for nanomaterials, however, has been unclear, since the continuum contact theory that can account for macroscale effects has been predicted to break down at the nanoscale. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of scanning force microscopy experiments, Yifei Mo et al. show that, despite this, simple friction laws do apply at the nanoscale: the friction force depends linearly on the number of atoms, rather than the number of asperities, that are chemically interacting across the sliding interfaces.

Suggested Citation

  • Yifei Mo & Kevin T. Turner & Izabela Szlufarska, 2009. "Friction laws at the nanoscale," Nature, Nature, vol. 457(7233), pages 1116-1119, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:457:y:2009:i:7233:d:10.1038_nature07748
    DOI: 10.1038/nature07748
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Jousset & Gilda Currenti & Benjamin Schwarz & Athena Chalari & Frederik Tilmann & Thomas Reinsch & Luciano Zuccarello & Eugenio Privitera & Charlotte M. Krawczyk, 2022. "Fibre optic distributed acoustic sensing of volcanic events," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Caishan Yan & Hsuan-Yi Chen & Pik-Yin Lai & Penger Tong, 2023. "Statistical laws of stick-slip friction at mesoscale," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

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