Abstract
Molecular dynamics based on the Langevin equations with the coordinate- and velocity-dependent damping coefficients is used to investigate the friction properties of a ‘hard’ lubricant film confined between two solids, when the lubricant remains in the solid state during sliding. The dependence of the friction force on the temperature and sliding velocity in the smooth sliding regime is studied in detail for all three states of the lubricant: a lubricant with a crystalline structure, when the system exhibits a very low friction (superlubricity), an amorphous lubricant structure, which results in a high friction, and the liquid state of the lubricant film at high temperatures or velocities. A phenomenological theory of the kinetic friction is developed, which allows us to explain the simulation results and predict a variation of the friction properties with model parameters analytically.
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