Alexander I. Bennett

Meeting the Contact-Mechanics Challenge

This paper summarizes the submissions to a recently announced contact-mechanics modeling challenge. The task was to solve a typical, albeit mathematically fully defined problem on the adhesion between nominally flat surfaces. The surface topography of the rough, rigid substrate, the elastic properties of the indenter, as well as the short-range adhesion between indenter and substrate, were specified so that diverse quantities of interest, e.g., the distribution of interfacial stresses at a given load or the mean gap as a function of load, could be computed and compared to a reference solution. Many different solution strategies were pursued, ranging from traditional asperity-based models via Persson theory and brute-force computational approaches, to real-laboratory experiments and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of a model, in which the original assignment was scaled down to the atomistic scale. While each submission contained satisfying answers for at least a subset of the posed questions, efficiency, versatility, and accuracy differed between methods, the more precise methods being, in general, computationally more complex. The aim of this paper is to provide both theorists and experimentalists with benchmarks to decide which method is the most appropriate for a particular application and to gauge the errors associated with each one.

Real Area of Contact in a Soft Transparent Interface by Particle Exclusion Microscopy

Soft matter mechanics are characterized by high strains and time-dependent elastic properties, which complicate contact mechanics for emerging applications in biomedical surfaces and flexible electronics. In addition, hydrated soft matter precludes using interferometry to observe real areas of contact. In this work, we present a method for measuring the real area of contact in a soft, hydrated, and transparent interface by excluding colloidal particles from the contact region. We confirm the technique by presenting a Hertz-like quasi-static indentation (loading time > 1.4 hrs) by a polyacrylamide probe into a stiff flat surface in a submerged environment. The real contact area and width were calculated from in situ images of the interface processed to reduce image noise and thresholded to define the perimeter of contact. This simple technique of in situ particle exclusion microscopy (PEM) may be widely applicable for determining real areas of contact of soft, transparent interfaces.

Challenges and opportunities in soft tribology

Abstract Despite the ubiquitous use of soft materials in everything from transportation to biomedicine, there remain tremendous opportunities for fundamental studies on the governing principles behind their tribological performance. One of the greatest challenges in performing tribological studies of friction and wear on soft materials is the low modulus, which necessitates low forces for convenient and accessible contact areas widely used in experimental tribology. Many excellent and established tribological instruments that have been optimized over the years for use with hard materials are essentially unusable for low modulus materials like soft elastomers, hydrogels, tissues, and cells. This critical need for fundamental measurements of soft contacts has led to a growing field of instrumentation development, stronger connections between tribology and rheology, increased in situ studies of contact deformation using optical microscopy, and new models for rate-dependent effects on friction and wear. Improvements in the ability to measure the real area of contact, assess time-dependent responses of soft interfaces, and reduce uncertainty in shear stress measurements are critical for friction measurements on soft materials. Some recent efforts in soft tribology are outlined herein with an eye towards performing non-destructive experiments on living cell layers to foster stronger interactions with biology and biomedicine.

Janus Blocks: A Binary System Wear Instability

In this manuscript, a simple binary model is devised that describes the wear behavior of two blocks coupled under a constant, dynamically partitioned normal load. In this simple system, the frictional force is reacted by two independent springs and the blocks are allowed to move and wear independently based on system dynamics and kinematics. The only coupling between the blocks occurs through the partitioning of the applied normal load, which uses a pair of springs in parallel to model elasticity. This system is found to preferentially wear one of the blocks until two disparately unique conditions of steady wear are reached in the system: (1) a condition in which the partitioning of the load between the blocks yields equal wear and thus steady partitioning of the load and (2) a condition in which the pair of blocks go to zero wear by having one block not sliding but carrying all of the load and the other block completely slipping but carrying none of the load. These “Janus blocks,” the simplest of binary spring–block systems, begin life in a nominally identical state and then their behavior bifurcates, producing runaway or irregular wear. The onset of this instability can initiate from any differences in load partitioning, spring constants, friction coefficient, or wear rates (no matter how small).

Lessons from the Lollipop: Biotribology, Tribocorrosion, and Irregular Surfaces

Abstract Biotribology and tribocorrosion are often not included in numerical or computational modeling efforts to predict wear because of the apparent complexity in the geometry, the variability in removal rates, and the challenge associated with mixing time-dependent removal processes such as corrosion with cyclic material removal from wear. The lollipop is an accessible bio-tribocorrosion problem that is well known but underexplored scientifically as a tribocorrosion process. Stress-assisted dissolution was found to be the dominant tribocorrosion process driving material removal in this system. A model of material removal was described and approached by lumping the intrinsically time-dependent process with a mechanically driven process into a single cyclic volumetric material removal rate. This required the collection of self-reported wear data from 58 participants that were used in conjunction with statistical analysis of actual lollipop cross-sectional information. Thousands of repeated numerical simulations of material removal and shape evolution were conducted using a simple Monte Carlo process that varied the input parameters and geometries to match the measured variability. The resulting computations were analyzed to calculate both the average number of licks required to reach the Tootsie Roll® center of a Tootsie Roll® pop, as well as the expected variation thereof.