title: Dependence of kinetic friction on velocity: master equation approach.
abstract: We investigate the velocity dependence of kinetic friction with a model that makes minimal assumptions on the actual mechanism of friction so that it can be applied at many scales, provided the system involves multicontact friction. Using a recently developed master equation approach, we investigate the influence of two concurrent processes. First, at a nonzero temperature, thermal fluctuations allow an activated breaking of contacts that are still below the threshold. As a result, the friction force monotonically increases with velocity. Second, the aging of contacts leads to a decrease of the friction force with velocity. Aging effects include two aspects: the delay in contact formation and aging of a contact itself, i.e., the change of its characteristics with the duration of stationary contact. All these processes are considered simultaneously with the master equation approach, giving a complete dependence of the kinetic friction force on the driving velocity and system temperature, provided the interface parameters are known.
authors: Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 46 Science Avenue, 03028 Kiev, Ukraine. obraun.gm@gmail.com
authors: O M
authors: OM
authors: Braun
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Peyrard