Squeezing and stick-slip friction behaviors of lubricants in boundary lubrication.

ABSTRACT: The fundamental questions of how lubricant molecules organize into a layered structure under nanometers confinement and what is the interplay between layering and friction are still not well answered in the field of nanotribology. While the phase transition of lubricants during a squeeze-out process under compression is a long-standing controversial debate (i.e., liquid-like to solid-like phase transition versus amorphous glass-like transition), recent different interpretations to the stick-slip friction of lubricants in boundary lubrication present new challenges in this field. We carry out molecular dynamics simulations of a model lubricant film (cyclohexane) confined between molecularly smooth surfaces (mica)--a prototypical model system studied in surface force apparatus or surface for

SUBMITTER: Xu RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6042126 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature