Publications

Linking Friction Scales from Nano to Macro via Avalanches

Salners, Tyler; Curry, John F.; Hinkle, Adam R.; Babuska, Tomas F.; Argibay, Nicolas A.; DelRio, Frank W.; Chandross, Michael; Dahmen, Karin

Steady-state fluctuations in the friction force of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a prototypical lamellar solid, were analyzed experimentally for newton-scale forces and computationally via molecular dynamics simulations for nanonewton-scale forces. A mean field model links the statics and the dynamics of the friction behavior across these eight orders of magnitude in friction force and six orders of magnitude in friction force fluctuations (i.e., avalanches). Both the statistics and dynamics of the avalanches match model predictions, indicating that friction can be characterized as a series of avalanches with properties that are predictable over a wide range of scales.