Calculating frictional force with considering material microstructure and potential on contact surfaces

Abstract

A method based on the energy dissipation mechanism of an Independent Oscillator model is used to calculate the frictional force and the friction coefficient of interfacial friction. The friction work is calculated with considering the potential change of contact surfaces during sliding. The potential change can be gained by a universal adhesive energy function. The relationships between frictional force and parameters of a tribo-system, such as surface energy and microstructure of interfacial material, are set up. The calculation results of the known experimental data denote that the frictional force is nearly proportional to the surface energy of the material, nearly inversely proportional to the scaling length, and independent of the lattice constant. The results agree with that of adhesion friction equations. They also agree with the experimental results performed with an atomic-force microscope under the ultra high vacuum condition.