Skip to main content

friction

friction and plasticity: new avenues of research?

Submitted by Mike Ciavarella on
Choose a channel featured in the header of iMechanica

Based on some recent results by Anders Klabring, myself and Jim Barber, showing rigorously that Melan’s theorem only works for a very restricted class of frictional problems, we suggest possible ave

review on KLJ's most loved areas in contact mechanics

Submitted by Mike Ciavarella on
Choose a channel featured in the header of iMechanica

If we read Ken Johnson’s Timoshenko medal 2006 speech also posted in iMechanica, the subjects Ken mentions in his brief and humorous speech are:-

  1. corrugation of railway rails,
  2. the damping at clamped joints,
  3. Hertz contact under the action of tangential friction forces,
  4. ‘tribology' (word invented by David Tabor along with F.P.Bowden in Cambridge),
  5. Atomic Force Microscope, Surface Force Apparatus & friction on the atomic scale,
  6. Relation between adhesion and friction.

These are probably the subjects Ken is most attached to. Some are older (but perhaps not solved, lke corrugation, for which the “short-pitch” fixed wavelength mechanism is still unclear despite Ken’s 40 years of efforts (!), and some are certainly fashionable today (like adhesion and friction at atomic scale). In starting this forum, why not start from here? Should we prepare a 1 page summary on each of these topics? Since I start this, I will do the effort on corrugation I promise in the next week or so!

Regards, Mike

Positioning on nanometer scale: fighting friction

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Most friction models for automatic control are targeted for the macro world, and are of questionable value for the motion control of the high precision positioing stages. We published a paper recently in Technishes Messen (TM) on a study of the friction behavior in the moving range of micrometers. It provides info for the development of friction models targeted for the motion control in high precision engineering.

The following is the abstract, and the full paper can be downloaded from http://www.atypon-link.com/OLD/doi/abs/10.1524/teme.2006.73.9.500

ABSTRACT Most friction models for automatic control are targeted for the macro world, and are of questionable value for the motion control of the nanopositioning and nanomeasuring machine (NPM) system. We present the frictional behaviour of some selected materials, coatings, lubricants, and bearings tested under running conditions similar to a NPM system. Continuous change of surface properties results in various friction characteristics, which substantiate the further development of tribological coatings, particularly for vacuum applications. We emphasize the system engineering approach in developing friction models, which combines fundamental knowledge of surface science, materials science, and its applications in design, construction and automatic control.