Nanoscale elastoplastic adhesion of wet asperities

Abstract

Accurate prediction of friction is crucial for design and efficient operation of many devices, comprising various contacts. In practice, contacting surfaces are rough and often wet. There are several mechanisms, which contribute to friction, including viscous shear of a coherent fluid film, as well as that of a thin adsorbed layer of boundary active molecular species. Additionally, adhesion and elastoplastic deformation of asperities on counterface surfaces may occur. Traditional friction models are based on statistical representation of surface topography as well as description of boundary shear films based on the theoretical lubricant film Eyring shear stress. The study reports a more realistic friction model than the traditional ones, which do not take into account the wet nature of the asperities. The fluid–surface interaction is a main contribution of the article, not hitherto reported in literature. It is shown that ignoring the effect of surface wetness can lead to the over-estimation of boundary friction and under-estimation of contact load-carrying capacity.