Related papers: Electrostatically tunable adhesion in a high speed…
In the atomic force microscope, the nanoscale force topography of even complex surface superstructures is extracted by the changing vibration frequency of a scanning tip. An alternative dissipation topography with similar or even better…
It is generally thought that capillary interactions in nanoscale contacts give rise to unwanted behaviour due to high adhesion. We show that this is not the case for sufficiently small contacts in ambient conditions. High resolution ambient…
The analogy between frictional cracks, propagating along interfaces in frictional contact, and ordinary cracks in bulk materials is important in various fields. We consider a stress-controlled frictional crack propagating at a velocity…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study contact between a rigid, nonadhesive, spherical tip with radius of order 30nm and a flat elastic substrate covered with a fluid monolayer of adsorbed chain molecules. Previous studies of bare…
We present an experimental and theoretical study of dry and glycerol-lubricated sliding for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cylinders with different surface roughness sliding on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber. This system represents a…
We study the interface between a solid trapped within a bath of liquid by a suitably shaped non-uniform external potential. Such a potential may be constructed using lasers, external electric or magnetic fields or a surface template. We…
When quickly detaching an elastomer from a counterface, viscoelasticity dramatically increases the perceived adhesion relative to its adiabatic or equilibrium value. Here, we report simulations on the sticking contact between a rigid…
We present a novel theory of the adhesive contact of linear viscoelastic materials against rigid substrates moving at constant velocity. Despite the non-conservative behavior of the system, the closure equation of the contact problem can be…
The stability of steady, dynamic, anti-plane slipping at a planar interface between two dissimilar anisotropic linear elastic solids is studied. The solids are assumed to possess a plane of symmetry normal to the slip direction, so that…
Nanoscale solid-solid contacts define a wealth of material behaviours from the electrical and thermal conductivity in modern electronic devices to friction and losses in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems. For modern ultra-high…
Friction in static and sliding contact of rough surfaces is important in numerous physical phenomena. We seek to understand macroscopically observed static and sliding contact behavior as the collective response of a large number of…
Surface stresses have recently emerged as a key player in the mechanics of highly compliant solids. The classic theories of contact mechanics describe adhesion with a compliant substrate as a competition between surface energies driving…
We study the stability and breakup of liquid bridges with a free contact line on a surface with contact-angle hysteresis under zero-gravity conditions. Theoretical predictions of the stability limits are validated by experimental…
Nanoscaling interstitial metal hydrides offers opportunities for hydrogenation applications by enhancing kinetics, increasing surface area, and allowing for tunable properties. The introduction of interfaces impacts hydrogen absorption…
Dense particulate suspensions often exhibit a dramatic increase in viscosity in response to external deformation. This shear thickening behavior has been related to a transition from lubricated, unconstrained pairwise motion to a frictional…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to examine hysteretic effects and distinctions between equilibrium and non-equilibrium aspects of particle adsorption on the walls of nano-sized fluidfilled channels. The force on the particle and the…
The delicate interfacial conditions and behaviors play critical roles in determining the valuable physical properties of two-dimensional materials and their heterostructures on substrates. However, directly probing these complex interface…
Accessing, controlling and understanding nanoscale friction and dissipation is a crucial issue in nanotechnology, where moving elements are central. Recently, ultra-sensitive noncontact pendulum Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) succeeded in…
Atomistic simulations are powerful tools for investigating tribological phenomena at a fundamental level; however, simulating a tribological system remains challenging due to the multiscale nature of frictional processes. Recently, we…
Point-contacts (PC) offer a simple way to create high current densities, 10^9 A/cm^2 and beyond, without substantial Joule heating. We have shown recently (Nano Letters, 7 (2007) 927) that conductivity of nanosized PCs between a normal and…