AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Wednesday Sessions
       Session TR+NS-WeM

Invited Paper TR+NS-WeM3
Atomistic Simulations of Friction and Wear of Carbon-Based Materials

Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 8:40 am, Room C4

Session: Nanomechanics and Nanotribology
Presenter: I. Szlufarska, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Authors: I. Szlufarska, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Y. Mo, University of Wisconsin, Madison
M. Mishra, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Correspondent: Click to Email
Controlling tribological properties requires understanding a bewildering array of interrelated mechanisms, including elastic instabilities, plastic deformation, fracture, and chemical reactions. Large scale atomistic simulations have been used to unravel some of these mechanisms. Tribological studies are typically divided into a wearless regime, where deformation is primarily elastic, and a wear regime where permanent deformation occurs. For wearless contacts, I will discuss the breakdown of continuum mechanics at the nanoscale and present our recent discovery of friction laws in dry nanoscale contacts. This discovery lays a foundation for unified friction laws across all length scales. In the wear regime I will focus on the origins of recently observed ductile wear in nominally brittle SiC. Although this ductile wear holds potential for greatly enhancing the ease of machining of high-performance ceramics, its origin is still an open question. I will evaluate potential mechanisms for ductile wear, including the possibility of transformation to more ductile phases, dislocation mediated plasticity, and nanoindentation-induced amorphization.