Analytic results and experiments in ultrahigh vacuum indicate that the static friction between two clean crystalline surfaces should almost always vanish, yet macroscopic objects always exhibit static friction. A simple and general explanation for the prevalence of static friction is proposed. “Third bodies,” such as small hydrocarbon molecules, adsorb on any surface exposed to air and can arrange to lock two contacting surfaces together. The resulting static friction is consistent with experimental behavior, including Amontons9 laws.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/284/5420/1650.full.pdf

Adsorbed layers and the origin of static friction

We review the present state of understanding of solid friction at low velocities and for systems with negligibly small wear effects. We first analyze in detail the behavior of friction at interfaces between macroscopic hard rough solids, whose main dynamical features are well described by the Rice–Ruina rate and state-dependent constitutive law. We show that it results from two combined effects: (i) the threshold rheology of nanometer-thick junctions jammed under confinement into a soft glassy structure and (ii) the geometric aging, i.e. slow growth of the real area of contact via asperity creep interrupted by sliding. Closer analysis leads to identifying a second aging-rejuvenation process, at work within the junctions themselves. We compare the effects of structural aging at such multicontact, very highly confined, interfaces with those met under different confinement levels, namely boundary lubricated contacts and extended adhesive interfaces involving soft materials (hydrogels, elastomers). This leads...

Solid friction from stick–slip down to pinning and aging

This paper presents a finite element calculation of frictionless, non-adhesive, contact between a rigid plane and an clasto-plastic solid with a self-affine fractal surface. The calculations are conducted within an explicit dynamic Lagrangian framework. The elastoplastic response of the material is described by a J(2) isotropic plasticity law. Parametric studies are used to establish general relations between contact properties and key material parameters. In all cases, the contact area A rises linearly with the applied load. The rate of increase grows as the yield stress sigma(y) decreases, scaling as a power of sigma(y) over the range typical of real materials. Results for A from different plasticity laws and surface morphologies can all be described by a simple scaling formula. Plasticity produces qualitative changes in the distributions of local pressures in the contact and of the size of connected contact regions. The probability of large local pressures is decreased, while large clusters become more likely. Loading-unloading cycles are considered and the total plastic work is found to be nearly constant over a wide range of yield stresses. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finite element modeling of elasto-plastic contact between rough surfaces

Piezoelectric resonators have been in use as mass-sensing devices for almost half a century. More recently it was recognized that shifts in frequency and bandwidth can come about by a diverse variety of interactions with the sample. The classical "load" consists of a thin film, which shifts the resonance frequency due to its inertia. Other types of loading include semi-infinite viscoelastic media, rough objects contacting the crystal via isolated asperities, mechanically nonlinear contacts, and dielectric films. All these interactions can be analyzed within the small-load approximation. The small-load approximation provides a unified frame for interpretation and thereby opens the way to new applications of the QCM.

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Viscoelastic, mechanical, and dielectric measurements on complex samples with the quartz crystal microbalance

Using a theoretical approach and computer simulations, we calculate the normal stiffness and the transverse stiffness of the interface between two contacting isotropic solids with randomly rough surfaces and Poisson ratio ν. The theoretical predictions for agree well with the simulations. Moreover, the theoretical result for the ratio is (2 − ν)/(2 − 2ν), as predicted by Mindlin for a single circular contact region. Finally, we compare the theory to experimental ultrasonic data.

/pdf/transverse-and-normal-interfacial-stiffness-of-solids-with-3yfj9gwf0s.pdf

Transverse and normal interfacial stiffness of solids with randomly rough surfaces

The macroscopic multicontact between two rough nominally flat surfaces is a common object whose physics is only partially understood. This paper is aimed at giving experimental evidence for the linear elastic response of a multicontact interface to a moderate shear force, i.e. below the threshold for incipient sliding. Non–intuitive properties of the interfacial shear stiffness are exhibited, in the spirit of macroscopic friction laws, which should be of practical interest when evaluating the performances of a built–up system. These are explained qualitively within the random surface framework prevailing in multicontact mechanics, and a numerical treatement of the three–dimensional profile of a real rough surface is proposed, which enables a direct quantitative simulation of the elastic stiffness. This is found to be compatible with experimental data on a polymer glass and an aluminium alloy. The sensitivity of interfacial stiffness measurements is discussed, and illustrated by the experimental evidence of the plastic deformation of aluminium alloy asperities under light nominal pressure. This emphasizes the need for an elastoplastic description of asperity deformation within a multicontact.

P. Berthoud

Papers

Shear stiffness of a solid–solid multicontact interface