Related papers: Tuning friction atom-by-atom in an ion-crystal sim…
When two solids start rubbing together, frictional sliding initiates in the wake of slip fronts propagating along their surfaces in contact. This macroscopic rupture dynamics can be successfully mapped on the elastodynamics of a moving…
Planar sliding of objects is modeled and analyzed. The model can be used for non-prehensile manipulation of objects lying on a surface. We study possible motions generated by frictional contacts, such as those arising between a soft finger…
Nanocrystalline metals, i.e. metals in which the grain size is in the nanometer range, have a range of technologically interesting properties including increased hardness and yield strength. We present atomic-scale simulations of the…
Quantum-optical techniques allow for generating controllable spin-spin interactions between ions, making trapped ions an ideal quantum simulator of Heisenberg chains. A single parameter, the detuning of the Raman coupling, allows to switch…
Friction Stir Processing is a relatively new technique which has been developed for microstructural modification of metallic materials through intense, localized plastic deformation. The current research work deals with the development of…
A new class of matching condition between the atomistic and continuum regions is presented for the multi-scale modeling of crystals. They ensure the accurate passage of large scale information between the atomistic and continuum regions and…
Using an adiabatic approximation method, which searches for Tomlinson model-like instabilities for a simple but still realistic model for two crystalline surfaces in the extremely light contact limit, with mobile molecules present at the…
Sensitive and fast force measurements are performed on sheared granular layers undergoing stick-slip motion, along with simultaneous imaging. A full study has been done for spherical particles with a +-20% size distribution. Stick-slip…
The key parameter for describing frictional strength at the onset of sliding is the static friction coefficient. Yet, how the static friction coefficient emerges at the macroscale from contacting asperities at the microscale is still an…
Non-contact interaction between two parallel flat surfaces is a central paradigm in sciences. This situation is the starting point for a wealth of different models: the capacitor description in electrostatics, hydrodynamic flow, thermal…
We propose and analyze a scheme to interface individual neutral atoms with nanoscale solid-state systems. The interface is enabled by optically trapping the atom via the strong near-field generated by a sharp metallic nanotip. We show that…
We report on the multi-contact frictional dynamics of model elastomer surfaces rubbed against bare glass slides. The surfaces consist of layers patterned with thousands spherical caps (radius of curvature 100 $\mu$m) distributed both…
Amorphous materials as diverse as foams, emulsions, colloidal suspensions and granular media can jam into a rigid, disordered state where they withstand finite shear stresses before yielding. Here we review the current understanding of the…
We study the dynamic behaviour of 1D spring-block models of friction when the external loading is applied from a side, and not on all blocks like in the classical Burridge-Knopoff-like models. Such a change in the loading yields specific…
The physics of sliding nanofriction at high temperature near the substrate melting point $\Tmelt$ is so far unexplored. We conducted simulations of hard tips sliding on a prototype non-melting surface, NaCl(100), revealing in this regime…
Classical sliding friction is dominated by the slip-stick mechanism, where contacts between two bodies are alternately formed and sheared as the bodies move past each other. When the interface between two bodies is perfectly smooth,…
The goal of this PhD thesis was to characterize the properties of friction in nanotubes and from a more general point of view the understanding of the microscopic origin of friction. Indeed, the relative simplicity of the system allows us…
We demonstrate, through 3-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulations, that the com- plex dynamical response of nano and micro crystals to external constraints can be tuned. Under load rate control, strain bursts are shown to…
The friction force observed at macroscale is the result of interactions at various lower length scales that are difficult to model in a combined manner. For this reason, simplified approaches are required, depending on the specific aspect…
We study a model of rolling particles subject to stochastic fluctuations, which may be relevant in systems of nano- or micro-scale particles where rolling is an approximation for strong static friction. We consider the simplest possible…