Static and dry friction due to multiscale surface roughness.
It is shown on the basis of scaling arguments that a disordered interface between two elastic solids will quite generally exhibit static and dry friction (i.e., kinetic friction which does not vanish as the sliding velocity approaches zero) because of Tomlinson-model instabilities that occur for small-length-scale asperities. This provides a possible explanation for why static and dry friction are virtually always observed, and superlubricity almost never occurs.
Physics Department and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
J B
JB
Sokoloff