Self-Organization at the Frictional Interface

Abstract

Despite the fact that self-organization during friction has received relatively little attention of the tribologists so far, it has a potential for the creation of self-healing and self-lubricating materials, which are of importance for the green or environment-friendly tribology. The principles of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes and of the nonlinear theory of dynamical systems are used to investigate the formation of spatial and temporal structures during friction. The transition to the self-organized state with low friction and wear occurs through the destabilization of the steady-state (stationary) sliding. The criterion for the destabilization is discussed and examples like formation of a protective film and slip waves are discussed. Some cases like running-in stage, elastic structures, and Turing pattern formation as evidences of self-organization are studied. A special self-healing mechanism may be embedded into material by coupling corresponding required forces. The analysis provides a structure–property relationship which can be applied for the design optimization of composite self-lubricating and self-healing materials for various ecologically friendly applications and green tribology.