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Atomic scale friction in the function of modified Eyring activation energies

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journal contribution
posted on 2015-06-22, 15:22 authored by W.W.F. Chong, Homer Rahnejat
At microscale, friction is better understood fundamentally through hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic lubrication. However, the mechanisms governing friction at nanoscale remains a subject of interest. With the emergence of small-scale devices such as Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nanoelectromechanical Systems (NEMS), there is a need to improve on the fundamental understanding of friction at diminishing gaps. Therefore, the paper investigates the friction of a simple fluid (n-hexadecane 99%) using an atomic force microscope. The measurements are interpreted using modified Eyring’s thermal activation energy approach in order to examine the effect of molecular solvation at the assumed smooth summit of asperities. It is found out that solvation for a sliding contact could be observed through the shear stress activation volume due to generated thermal energy, which indicates the movement of the fluid molecules into and out of the contact.

Funding

The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Education under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) through the n-SIMPAC project and the Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS) through The Design of Lubricant and Surface Interaction for Reduced Boundary Friction and Wear project.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Published in

Key Engineering Materials

Volume

642

Pages

3 - 7 (5)

Citation

CHONG, W.W.F. and RAHNEJAT, H., 2015. Atomic scale friction in the function of modified Eyring activation energies. Key Engineering Materials, 642, pp. 3 - 7.

Publisher

© Trans Tech Publications

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publication date

2015

Notes

This article was published in the journal, Key Engineering Materials [© Trans Tech Publications]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.642.3

ISSN

1013-9826

Language

  • en