Related papers: Differentiating frictionally locked asperities fro…
Perturbation theory, simulations and scaling arguments predict that there should be no static friction for two weakly interacting flat atomically smooth clean solid surfaces. The absence of static friction results from the fact that the…
Frictional interfaces are abundant in natural and manmade systems and their dynamics still pose challenges of fundamental and technological importance. A recent extensive compilation of multiple-source experimental data has revealed that…
The spontaneous nucleation of accelerating slip along slowly driven frictional interfaces is central to a broad range of geophysical, physical and engineering systems, with particularly far-reaching implications for earthquake physics. A…
The sliding of three-dimensional clusters and two-dimensional islands adsorbed on crystal surfaces represent an important test case to understand friction. Even for the same material, monoatomic islands and thick clusters will not as a rule…
We study the friction between a flat solid surface where polymer chains have been end-grafted and a cross-linked elastomer at low sliding velocity. The contribution of isolated grafted chains' penetration in the sliding elastomer has been…
We discuss crack propagation along the interface between two dissimilar materials. The crack edge separates two states of the interface, ``stick'' and ``slip''. In the slip region we assume that the shear stress is proportional to the…
We study experimentally the fluctuations of deformation along a shear fault naturally emerging within a compressed frictional granular medium. Using laser interferometry, we show that the deformation inside this granular gouge occurs as a…
Earthquake faults occur in networks that have dynamical modes not displayed by single isolated faults. Using simulations of the network of strike-slip faults in southern California, we find that the physics depends critically on both the…
A {\it stuck knot} is a knot diagram containing designated crossings, called {\it stuck crossings}, whose incident strands are required to remain locally non-separable. These rigidity constraints restrict the allowable ambient isotopies and…
We study, both analytically and numerically, the dynamics of elastic boundaries such as crack fronts in fracture and surfaces of contact in solid on solid friction. The elastic waves in the solid give rise to kinks that move with a…
Important physical observations in rupture dynamics such as static fault friction, short-slip, self-healing, and supershear phenomenon in cracks are studied. A continuum model of rupture dynamics is developed using the field dislocation…
Breakloose friction, the transient force peak at the onset of sliding, is often pronounced in nanoscale contacts but weak or absent in macroscopic systems. Although this behavior is commonly associated with rupture fronts and process-zone…
We model the progressive maturation of a heterogeneous mass towards a gravity-driven instability, characterized by the competition between frictional sliding and tension cracking, using array of slider blocks on an inclined basal surface,…
Structural superlubricity is an intriguing physical phenomenon, whereby sliding at a structurally incommensurate, atomically flat interface yields vanishingly small friction forces. Despite its recent experimental validation, critical…
The failure of frictional interfaces -- the process of frictional rupture -- is widely assumed to feature crack-like properties, with far-reaching implications for various disciplines, ranging from engineering tribology to earthquake…
Low-frequency earthquakes are a particular class of slow earthquakes that provide a unique source of information on the mechanical properties of a subduction zone during the preparation of large earthquakes. Despite increasing detection of…
In this work, we analyse the stick-slip motion of a soft elastomeric block on a smooth, hard surface under the application of shear, which is induced by a puller moving at a steady velocity. The frictional stress is generated by make-break…
We present a method of constructing low-dimensional nonlinear models describing the main dynamical features of a discrete 2D cellular fault zone, with many degrees of freedom, embedded in a 3D elastic solid. A given fault system is…
Microscale granular sliding within fault gouge is fundamental to earthquake nucleation, yet the mechanism by which temperature affects friction through interfacial water remains poorly understood. Here, large-scale molecular dynamics…
A fundamental mystery in earthquake physics is ``how can an earthquake be triggered by distant seismic sources?'' Here, we use discrete element method simulations of a granular layer, during stick-slip, that is subject to transient…