Abstract
Abstract Friction is a phenomenon observed ubiquitously in daily life, yet its nature is complicated. Friction between rough surfaces is considered to arise primarily because of macroscopic roughness. In contrast, interatomic forces dominate between clean and smooth surfaces. “Superlubricity”, where friction effectively becomes zero, occurs when the ratio of lattice parameters in the pair of surfaces becomes an irrational number. Superlubricity has been found to exist in a limited number of systems, but is a very important phenomenon both in industry and in mechanical engineering. New atomistic research on friction is under way, with the aim of refining theoretical models that consider interactions between atoms beyond mean field theory and experiments using ultrahigh vacuum non-contact atomic force microscopy. Such research is expected to help clarify the nature of microscopic friction, reveal the onset conditions of friction and superlubricity as well as the stability of superlubricity, discover new superlubric systems, and lead to new applications.
Highlights
Friction and superlubricitySuperlubricity, which is the state of vanishing friction, is closely related to the origin of friction
Friction is a phenomenon observed ubiquitously in daily life, yet its nature is complicated
More than 200 years passed without any description in friction research, until much discussion of the laws regarding friction and the origin of friction started to happen in the 17th to 18th century
Summary
Superlubricity, which is the state of vanishing friction, is closely related to the origin of friction. The molecular theory considers the true cause of friction to be the interaction of molecular forces at the contacting surfaces where friction happens. Further observation of the remains after separation showed that only a fraction of the pressed surface had been in contact This finding gave rise to the prediction that “friction increases if surfaces are continuously polished smoothly”. He found that tracks of wear caused by friction are initially about 1 micron wide, and as friction gradually increases wear, the width increases to about 50 microns This experiment refuted the roughness theory and proved that friction is a problem of energy loss from the interaction of molecular forces and is a phenomenon of plastic deformation and fracture in materials science that accompanies destruction of the surface. The findings resulted in today’s lubrication technologies for head–disk interfaces in contact start-stop type magnetic disc devices, and lubrication technologies will become even more important in head–disk constant contact type devices in the future
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