Atomic-scale study of dry sliding friction

Abstract

We present a theoretical study of dry sliding friction, which has a close bearing on the experiments done by using the atomic and friction force microscope. By performing atomic-scale calculations for the friction between a single atom and monoatomic infinite chain, we examined the effect of various material parameters on the stick-slip motion. We found that the perpendicular elastic deformation of the substrate that is induced by the sliding object is crucial for the energy damping in friction. In this case, the average friction force strongly depends on the perpendicular force constant of the substrate and the friction constant varies with the normal force. In particular, soft materials that continue to be elastic for a wide range of perpendicular compression may exhibit a second state. As a result, the hysteresis curve in the stick-slip motion becomes anisotropic.