Cause Of Friction Research Articles

A critical analysis of India and Pakistan’s terrorism discourse in the context of geopolitics and imperialism

ABSTRACT Why do India and Pakistan always quarrel over terrorism? The prevailing arguments more often implicate intriguing South Asian geopolitics surrounding the unresolved Kashmir dispute or pathological partition of British India in 1947 to explain this puzzle. Surprisingly, why and how the two countries verbalise terrorism has hardly been investigated in a comparative framework as a potential underpinning of this historical syndrome. This void has deprived South Asia’s existing literature and public and policy debates of an understanding of the underlying determinants of the terrorism discourse. Namely, how has the discourse originated, what are its distinct metaphysics, and how it has shaped and normalised discursive practices at significant moments in the history of these two countries, and with what consequences? This article responds to these broader questions. It argues that among other vital underpinnings, the Indo-Pakistan terrorism discourse, with its origins in colonialism, functions to institute and enable rival practices of exclusionary politics, doublespeak and propaganda. More importantly, it nurtures self-fulfilling concepts of statehood deriving from a constructed “real” reality characterising an imagined geopolitical pathology that, in turn, perpetuates Indo-Pakistan imperialism. In addressing this argument, the paper makes multiple original contributions, including identifying research avenues and indicating various intersecting causes of friction that afford reconciliation possibilities to the stakeholders.

From the Editor: Belated Recognition for the 2021 Clemen–Kleinmuntz Decision Analysis Best Paper Award Winner and Finalist

Free AccessAboutSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Go to SectionFree Access HomeDecision AnalysisAhead of Print From the Editor: Belated Recognition for the 2021 Clemen–Kleinmuntz Decision Analysis Best Paper Award Winner and FinalistVicki M. BierVicki M. BierPublished Online:9 May 2023https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2023.0477The winning paper for 2021 was “Friction and Decision Rules in Portfolio Decision Analysis,” by Gary J. Summers (Summers 2021). To put this paper in context, the practice of decision analysis typically involves identifying performance objectives and managerial preferences, quantifying uncertainties, and then using them as inputs to assess alternatives. An exhaustive theory-driven literature in decision analysis provides foundations for this practice, assuming that objectives, preferences, and uncertainties are well understood and available to quantify. The award-winning paper by Summers highlights that this quantification may not be accurate in practice, leading to “friction” in decision analysis models. This friction can systematically lead to a loss in decision quality. The article provides examples from multiple domains, and new analysis to illustrate this friction. As such, the article underscores the importance of calibrating the inputs to decision analysis models. It promises to be a springboard for future research on understanding the causes of friction in decision analysis models, its implications, and mitigation methods.I congratulate Gary J. Summers on this excellent paper and am especially glad that Decision Analysis was able to help a full-time practitioner bring forth important and insightful ideas in a manner that is compelling to both academics and practitioners.The finalist for 2021 was “Preference-Approval Structures in Group Decision Making: Axiomatic Distance and Aggregation,” by Yucheng Dong, Yao Li, Ying He, and Xia Chen (Dong et al. 2021). Although decision analysis commonly focuses on decision making by an individual or a group acting as an individual, this paper focuses on group decision making. It combines two popular approaches for aggregating individual preferences, ranked voting and approval voting, which have compensating strengths and weaknesses. Ranked voting leverages the preference ranking central to the decision analysis approach, but is subject to strategic manipulation (where individuals misrepresent their preferences); approval voting is immune to strategic manipulation, but does not provide the complete ranking required by decision analysis. The article shows that combining them leads to superior performance. Future empirical research and practice is likely to significantly benefit from the rigorous foundational treatment provided by this article.Congratulations to Dong et al. for this excellent and pragmatic contribution to the challenging topic of group decision making.Thanks also to committee members Saurabh Bansal (Pennsylvania State University) and Robert Bordley (University of Michigan) for cochairing the award committee for 2021, and for providing extensive input to the paper descriptions given above. My sincere apologies for this belated recognition to all.ReferencesDong Y, Li Y, He Y, Chen X (2021) Preference–approval structures in group decision making: Axiomatic distance and aggregation. Decision Anal. 18(4):273–295. https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2021.0430.Link, Google ScholarSummers GJ (2021) Friction and decision rules in portfolio decision analysis. Decision Anal. 18(2):101–120. https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2020.0421.Link, Google Scholar Previous Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation Articles In Advance Article Information Metrics Information Published Online:May 09, 2023 Copyright © 2023, INFORMSCite asVicki M. Bier (2023) From the Editor: Belated Recognition for the 2021 Clemen–Kleinmuntz Decision Analysis Best Paper Award Winner and Finalist. Decision Analysis 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2023.0477 PDF download

The Revue International Anarchiste's World Survey (1924–1925)

The Revue International Anarchiste's World Survey (1924–1925)

Chemical Approaches to Synthetic Drug Delivery Systems for Systemic Applications.

Poor water solubility and low bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are major causes of friction in the pharmaceutical industry and represent a formidable hurdle for pharmaceutical drug development. Drug delivery remains the major challenge for the application of new small-molecule drugs as well as biopharmaceuticals. The three challenges for synthetic delivery systems are: (i) controlling drug distribution and clearance in the blood; (ii) solubilizing poorly water-soluble agents, and (iii) selectively targeting specific tissues. Although several polymer-based systems have addressed the first two demands and have been translated into clinical practice, no targeted synthetic drug delivery system has reached the market. This Review is designed to provide a background on the challenges and requirements for the design and translation of new polymer-based delivery systems. This report will focus on chemical approaches to drug delivery for systemic applications.

Review of Tribological Failure Analysis and Lubrication Technology Research of Wind Power Bearings.

Wind power, being a recyclable and renewable resource, makes for a sizable portion of the new energy generation sector. Nonetheless, the wind energy industry is experiencing early failure of important components of wind turbines, with the majority of these issues also involving wind power bearings. Bearing dependability is directly tied to the transmission efficiency and work performance of wind turbines as one of its major components. The majority of wind turbine failures are due to bearings, and the vast majority of bearing failures are due to lubrication. The topic of improving the accuracy and life of wind power bearing motion is becoming increasingly essential as the wind power industry develops rapidly. This study examines the various constructions and types of wind turbines, as well as their bearings. We also examined the most typical causes of friction and lubrication failure. Furthermore, contemporary research on wind turbine bearings has been compiled, which mostly comprises the study and development of lubrication technology and other areas. Finally, a conclusion and outlook on current challenges, as well as future research directions, are offered.

Assessing the Cost of Friction between NATO Allies

This paper proposes a method for assessing the cost of friction between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies and highlights internal threats. This is applied to the Greek–Turkish conflict within the NATO context and concerns the functioning of defence expenditure in Greece, modified in such a way as to focus on the causes of friction between these allies. The analysis concentrates mainly on the issue of internal threats to the long-run equilibrium of NATO. The ARDL methodology used modifies the typical error correction model by introducing a mechanism that accelerates the process that leads back to the long-run equilibrium. Along with assessing the cost to an ally in relation to an internal threat, the method proposed allows the time required for the long-run equilibrium of NATO to be restored. The paper concludes that dynamic incidents of friction between allies expressed as an internal threat disturb NATO’s static equilibrium, destabilise an individual ally’s defence policy and contribute to cost being incurred.

Research on Three-Dimensional Interpolation Modeling Method of Micro - and Nanometer Controllable Surface

The fundamental cause of friction and wear is the effect of force, resulting in material heating, deformation, fatigue, adhesion and furrow effect, which is closely related to the micro-topography of the contact surface of friction pair. How to establish the real three-dimensional (3D) rough surface, using inter-polation surface reconstruction based on real data, especially in the three dimensional precision measurement data processing, etc, also the lack of research and practice, so in this paper, fractal interpolation and spline interpolation, Fourier interpolation surface modeling interpolation algorithm of three methods for modeling, a detailed analysis and expounds the advantages and disadvantages of the three ways of modeling with surface, and finally to the surface of the atomic force microscope to measure the actual extraction of a small number of sampling points are simulated.

Phonon dissipation in friction with commensurate–incommensurate transition between graphene membranes

To examine phonon transport during the friction process of commensurate–incommensurate transition, the vibrational density of states of contact surfaces is calculated based on molecular dynamics simulations. The results indicate that, compared with the static state, the relative sliding of the contact surfaces causes a blue shift in the interfacial phonon spectrum in or close to commensurate contact, whereas the contrast of the phonon spectrum in incommensurate contact is almost indiscernible. Further findings suggest that the cause of friction can be attributed to the excitation of new in-plane acoustic modes, which provide the most efficient energy dissipation channels in the friction process. In addition, when the tip and the substrate are subjected to a same biaxial compressive/tensile strain, fewer new acoustic modes are excited than in the no strain case. Thus, the friction can be controlled by applying in-plane strain even in commensurate contact. The contribution of the excited acoustic modes to friction at various frequency bands is also calculated, which provides theoretical guidance for controlling friction by adjusting excitation phonon modes.

Lubricated friction around nanodefects.

The lubrication properties of nanoconfined liquids underpin countless natural and industrial processes. However, our current understanding of lubricated friction is still limited, especially for nonideal interfaces exhibiting nanoscale chemical and topographical defects. Here, we use atomic force microscopy to explore the equilibrium and dynamical behavior of a model lubricant, squalane, confined between a diamond tip and graphite in the vicinity of an atomic step. We combine high-resolution imaging of the interface with highly localized shear measurements at different velocities and temperatures to derive a quantitative picture of the lubricated friction around surface defects. We show that defects tend to promote local molecular order and increase friction forces by reducing the number of stable molecular configurations in their immediate vicinity. The effect is general, can propagate over hundreds of nanometers, and can be quantitatively described by a semiempirical model that bridges the molecular details and mesoscale observations.

Speaking the Unspeakable! Zulu Penthonyms as Oral Strategies to Diffuse Conflict within a Traditional Polygynous Community in kwaMambulu, Kranskop

The polygynous nature of most marriages in isiZulu-speaking societies, the fact that co-wives do not get along, and the presence of jealousy, envy and fighting in households such as these are underlying major causes of friction within Zulu family units. These feuds become undercurrents of tensions and fracture within the family unit and lead to family members suspecting and accusing each other of practising witchcraft when a family member dies. In such instances, the use of penthonyms is an extremely useful channel of expressing discontent or passing criticism. This article will use data collected from kwaMambulu to assess the extent to which this age-old practice around name bestowal in isiZulu-speaking family structures such as these is still enforced. It argues that despite changes brought by Christianity, Western modernity and recently the post-apartheid period, modalities around name bestowal in a number of isiZulu-speaking communities still persist. The kwaMambulu community continues to reflect the undented epistemologies around name-giving in much of the tradition-based African households. Allegations of the practice of witchcraft and sorcery are always alluded to in this society when death strikes. When the parents suffer the misfortune of losing children, they resort to giving penthonyms. Penthonyms are given to male children because they are believed to be the future of the family. The male children protect the family and when the man of the house dies the male children take over family matters.

Influence of clearance flow on disk friction loss in low specific speed hydraulic machines

Generally, in industrial applications, multi-stage pumps are used to obtain high working pressure. However, utilizing these pumps requires larger body size and longer shafts which will lead to substantial costs. As a result, a low specific speed machine is needed to minimize costs. In such case, energy can be saved and manufacturing costs can be reduced by increasing the efficiency of these low specific speed machines disk friction loss is one important cause of friction in low specific speed machines. It is caused by fluid friction occurring in the clearances between the shroud and back-shroud of the impeller and the casing. This loss is not directly related to the energy conversion in turbo machines, however it is related to the main characteristics of a machine. It will be increased proportionally with the impeller diameter and decreased with its specific speed. In this research, a test apparatus for measuring friction torque on a rotating disk was established, including a pressure resistant tank and boost pump connected in a closed loop using water as the working fluid. The sample rotating disk simulated the leakage flow path between the back-shroud and the casing of a centrifugal pump. Disks with different clearances were prepared, and fluctuations of torque were studied as a function of flow rate and Reynolds number. As a result, an optimum value for disk clearance with the minimum torque was observed to exist under each flow condition. CFD analysis was performed using a model simulating the disk clearance to understand the internal flow structure. For purpose of validation, the radial distribution of static pressure on the stationary wall was simulated by CFD and compared to experimental results. The CFD analysis agreed with the experimental distribution of wall static pressure in an acceptable manner, therefore it is proved that CFD model can reliably be used in evaluation of disk friction loss. Moreover, disk friction loss variation as a function of flow rate was investigated with inward and outward flow directions. It is seen that for both directions, disk friction loss decreases with flow rate. However, a vortex structure was observed at the inlet of the disk clearance for inward flow direction. Size of the vortex structure changes as a function of flow rate and has an influence on disk friction loss. The occurrence of this vortex structure may increase the efficiency of actual low specific speed machinery.

Gender Disparity in Enrolment into Basic Formal Education in Nigeria: Implications for National Development

Research studies have pointed to inequality in access to formal Education in Nigeria in favour of the male; despite the nation's commitment to equality of all, irrespective of race, sex or gender as buttressed by section 18, of the 1999 Nigerian constitution. This situation has grave implications for national development in Nigeria. The enlarged access to qualitative and functional educational opportunity for all, boys and girls inclusive, is perhaps one of the most effective means to combat poverty, reduce misunderstanding, political and religious intolerance as well as lack of respect for others, which had been the major causes of friction, revolts and intermittent civil crises in the nation. Girls education would not only contribute to move the nation forward economically, politically and technologically; it would also go a long way to liberate the women folk from their natural way of dependency, inferiority, superstition and other shackles that impede national development. This paper therefore examines the issue of gender disparity in enrolment into formal education in Nigeria with special focus on enrolment in basic education that is at the primary and junior secondary schools level, the reason for the imbalance in enrolment and its implications for national development. Recommendations are also proffered on how to ameliorate the situation. Key words : Gender, Disparity, Enrolment, Formal Education, Development.

Interacting with Classic Design Engineering

Triggered by our occasionally tense field experiences relating to the implementation and institutionalization of usability in design engineering organizations that are characterized by traditional engineering education and thinking, we have earlier suspected that the activities associated with human-centered design were orthogonal to the design engineering practices otherwise in place. While noting that other human factors professionals have had comparable challenges relating to multidisciplinary design, we have, however, reached a point where we rather are suggesting that the ontological, epistemological and methodological grounding of classic design engineering, under some circumstances, could be the direct cause for friction between that discipline and that of human factors. In a way taking our own medicine, we have thus arrived at a place where we are realizing the need for an ethnographical exploration and improved understanding of classic design engineering fundamentals, appreciating that a more successful and fruitful interaction and cooperation with that essential discipline very well could spring from a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the mindset of the classic design engineer. The main part of the present paper pivots around developing such an insight, hoping to contribute to the effective, efficient and satisfactory outcome of multidisciplinary cooperation for those who find themselves being tasked with human-centric work in traditional engineering organizations.

The impact of uncertainties on cooperation over transboundary water: The case of Israeli–Palestinian negotiations

The effect of uncertainty on cooperation between the partners sharing the natural resources remains unknown. Uncertainty may strengthen cooperation between partners, as it is necessary to implement cooperative mitigation policies, however, it may also serve as a cause of friction between parties, as it may aggravate existing trust issues or power asymmetries. Given the potential for such contrary outcomes, we provide criteria to examine empirically how uncertainties in a transboundary setting seem to promote or impede cooperation. Taking Israeli–Palestinian Annapolis round and post-Annapolis negotiations as a case study, this work identifies the effect of uncertainties related to water on negotiation positions. Social and political uncertainties, which tend to be more associated with uncertainty regarding interpretation rather than a lack of information, play a much stronger role in water negotiations than do technical or physical uncertainties that often dominate in other resource issues. Many of the criteria used to assess the effect of uncertainty indicate that partners attempted to address uncertainties in an ostensibly cooperative manner, accepting negotiation venues and rules. However, confronting uncertainty stemming from interpretation of information often around social issues tends to result in additional uncertainties associated with delaying negotiations, spillover effects and power implications, each with negative implications in terms of cooperation. As such, mechanisms proposed to address these uncertainties also tend to be more disputed. The only type of mechanisms that did not appear to aggravate the effects of these uncertainties and perhaps the only that would be indicative of some type of cooperation, even if low level, are those that deal data and information exchange and research.

Nýja kvennahreyfingin á Norðurlöndum á áttunda áratug 20. aldar

Hér er fjallað um nokkrar nýlegar rannsóknir á nýju kvennahreyfingunni í Svíþjóð, Noregi og Danmörku á áttunda áratug 20. aldar. Byggist greinin einkum á rannsóknum sænsku sagnfræðinganna Elisabeth Elgán og Emma Isaksson, norsku sagnfræðinganna Trine Rogg Korsvik og Gro Hagemann og danska stjórnmálafræðingsins Drude Dahlerup. Allar hafa þessar fræðikonur verið framarlega í þessum rannsóknum á undanförnum árum eða skrifað mikilvægar greinar. Í þeim fjalla þær um "tilurðarsögu" hreyfinganna í viðkomandi löndum, baráttuaðferðir þeirra, hugmyndafræði og tengsl hreyfinganna við jafnréttisbaráttuna í öðrum löndum, sérstaklega í Bandaríkjunum. Er sú "tilurðarsaga" jafnframt tekin til endurskoðunar. Áhugaverðar eru lýsingar á því hvernig hinar ýmsu opinberu "aðgerðir" sem gripið var til í baráttunni endurspegluðu afstöðu kvennanna til málefnisins. Baráttan beindist að auknu jafnrétti í samfélaginu og hafði þess vegna sterka pólitíska skírskotun sem aftur á móti gat orsakað klofning þegar sósíalísk hugmyndafræði og róttækur femínismi tókust á. Markmiðið með greininni er fyrst og fremst það að draga fram ákveðna þætti sem mótuðu baráttuaðferðirnar, rýna í hugmyndafræðina sem byggt var á og skoða þróunina sem varð í löndunum þremur. Tekin eru dæmi af baráttu íslensku Rauðsokkahreyfingarinnar þar sem við á. Í lokin er varpað fram nokkrum spurningum um hvort Rauðsokkahreyfingin á Íslandi hafi byggst upp á sömu þáttum eða þróast með svipuðum hætti og í þessum norrænu systurlöndum. Þeim spurningum verður að vísu ekki svarað nema til komi verulega auknar rannsóknir á þessu sviði hér á landi.

Management Forecast Regulation and Practice in Germany – Firm and Auditor Perspectives

The German regulation on future-oriented reporting is unique in the international context. Its scope is extensive and it specifically pertains to a two-year time horizon in the management forecast section of the annual report. The goal of our research is to provide insights into the perspectives of forecasters on the one hand and auditors on the other, as well as to contrast their viewpoints in order to promote the regulatory debate. Applying the multiple case study method, we exploratively interview forecasters and auditors in order to extract perspectives on the regulation itself, the forecasting process and their mutual relationship. Our main results show that the auditing of forecasts is a regular cause of friction and that most firms and auditors are dissatisfied with the current regulation. In particular, its concreteness and detail are criticised because the forecasting behaviour of firms is generally rather heterogeneous in practice. The management of small enterprises and auditors of smaller firms seem to view management forecasts even more critically. Our research provides evidence for the ongoing regulatory discussion in the German and international contexts and allows for greater insight for both auditors and forecasters into the viewpoints of their respective counterparts.

The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 30: July-December 1855, and: The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 31: January-September 1856 (review)

Reviewed by: The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 30: July-December 1855, and: The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 31: January-September 1856 Peter Jackson The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 30: July-December 1855. Edited by Ian Campbell, Aileen Christianson, Sheila McIntosh and David Sorensen. Pp. xxxv, 306. ISBN 0 8223 6563 4. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press. 2002. $60.00. The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle. Vol. 31: January-September 1856. Edited by Ian Campbell, Aileen Christianson, Sheila McIntosh and David Sorensen. Pp. xxxv, 282. ISBN 0 8223 6595 2. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press. 2003. $60.00. Writing to his brother John in April 1856, Thomas Carlyle (T.C.) commented in characteristic fashion on the inclusion in an edition of the works of Voltaire of 'some 7 or 8,000 Lettres ... almost twice as many as I ever saw in an edition before: useless, most of them, to gods or men!' (31:63). What, one wonders, would he have made of this even more voluminous collection of his own and his wife (J.W.C.)'s letters, now past its thirtieth volume, with close on 6,000 letters already in print and over 4,000 still to come? The first thing to be said is that the two volumes reviewed here are the reverse of 'useless', and maintain the high level of interest and the all-but-faultless editorial care that distinguish the rest of the series. T.C. was unattractively preoccupied throughout 1855 and 1856 in researching and writing his History of Frederick the Great, still many years from completion. The 'unspeakable Fritz Operation' (30:45) continued to generate the familiar breast-beatings: 'these Prussian Dust-Whirlpools' (31:56), 'endless Giant Mountains of Prussian Pedantry' (31:42), '[n]ever was my heart so near being broken with anything' (30:134). Most of the circle was drawn into the vortex. Lord Ashburton gave access to his private library; John Carlyle searched for books in Germany; Robert Tait photographed a portrait needed for an illustration; even Robert Browning checked references in Paris. The hero of the story is T.C.'s research assistant Joseph Neuberg, whose services extended to inspecting the new grate in T.C.'s soundproof study and bringing call-slips from the British Museum Library to Cheyne Row to save T.C. the trouble of collecting them himself. Yet for all the trenchancy and verve of T.C.'s letters printed here – and not one is lacking a vivid phrase or some splendid outburst of rhetoric – they still give only glimpses of his full intellectual power. Most of his mental energy was clearly channelled into Frederick, and what was left for his letters was too often diluted into repetitive and occasionally absurd laments (30:34: 'Ah me, ah me! Mutton broth, I should think, wd not be unwelcome for dinner') and interminable haverings about travel arrangements and the like. But there are exceptions in both volumes where T.C. touches on larger themes, such as a letter to John Stuart Blackie on the shortcomings of Scottish and German universities (30:110–11), one to Sir George Sinclair declining the somewhat surprising suggestion that he stand as an M.P. (30:8–10), and another to Robert Browning in which he reflects on the perceived unintelligibility of his own prose style (31:75–76). And a long series of letters detailing T.C.'s patient and ultimately successful efforts to secure an annuity for the elderly Lowe sisters, and his regular and affectionate messages to his siblings, show what an unselfish and warm-hearted correspondent he could still be even at times of greatest pressure. In private, though, T.C.'s absorption in a project which came near to crushing him brought inevitable hardship to his intimates, above all to his wife, who at one point had to endure nightly accounts of the Battle of Mollwitz while lying helpless on the sofa. Nor was this the only cause of friction between the two. Much of these volumes is given over to the other great shadow over...

Incentive Efficient Control of a Make-to-Stock Production System

This paper considers a principal-agent variant of the classical make-to-stock single-server queueing system. The principal incurs all costs for holding inventory and backordering demand. The agent dynamically controls the production rate at the server and incurs a convex production cost. The principal cannot monitor the production rate but can draw inference from increases in the inventory level. Furthermore, by making payments contingent on the inventory level, the principal motivates the agent to control the production rate in a manner that will minimize the principal's own total expected discounted cost. We show that an optimal incentive payment scheme consists of piece rates and inventory penalties that vary dynamically with the inventory level. This scheme coordinates the system if the agent is risk neutral. Otherwise, operational performance is degraded by the conflict in incentives between principal and agent. We identify some drivers of this agency loss: In addition to discounting and risk aversion in the agent's preferences, which are standard causes of friction in dynamic agency models, an increasing marginal cost of production and slack in the agent's capacity are also found to be lead contributors. Heavy traffic analysis supports these findings through closed-form expressions for the performance of the system under the optimal incentive scheme.

CONFLICTING COMPETITION POLICIES IN A GLOBALIZED BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT: PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION AND CONVERGENCE

Countries have differences in competition policies, which are cause for friction in international trade and investment. This paper discusses those issues and develops a model to try to explain the willingness of countries to participate in a cooperative competition policy. The model suggests that countries which are economically advanced, active in trade, and already involved in trade regimes are most likely to cooperate in competition policy.

Tribological behavior of ultra-thin soft metallic deposits on hard substrates

The tribological behavior of ultra-thin soft metallic deposits on silicon substrates was investigated for low load sliding applications. Thermal evaporation and ion-beam sputtering deposition techniques were used to produce coatings of various apparent thicknesses (1–1000 nm). Sliding tests were conducted with gold and silver coatings on silicon substrates using a reciprocating pin-on-flat type apparatus to study the tribological behavior of these coated specimens. Various tribological parameters were examined for controlling friction and wear of soft metallic coatings under relatively low loads. Experimental results indicate that the film thickness, load and coating deposition technique affect the frictional behavior of soft metallic coatings. Microscopic observations showed that plowing is the main cause of friction for soft metallic coatings under relatively low loads. Based on the experimental observations, the film thickness and load dependency of soft coatings were analyzed using the plowing friction model with a modified hardness term. This analysis shows that the film thickness and load dependency of soft coatings can be reasonably explained using the plowing model.