title: On the role of scales in contact mechanics and friction between elastomers and randomly rough self-affine surfaces.
abstract: The paper is devoted to a qualitative analysis of friction of elastomers from the point of view of scales contributing to the force of friction. We argue that--contrary to widespread opinion--friction between a randomly rough self-affine fractal surface and an elastomer is not a multiscale phenomenon, but is governed mostly by the interplay of only two scales--as a rule the largest and the smallest scales of roughness of the contacting bodies. The hypothesis of two-scale character of elastomer friction is illustrated by computer simulations in the framework of the paradigm of Greenwood, Tabor and Grosch using a simplified one-dimensional model.
authors.affiliation: Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, 10623 Germany.|National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.|National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.
authors.forename: Valentin L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Popov
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.|National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.|Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science, RAS, Tomsk, 634021 Russia.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimaki
authors.affiliation: National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.|National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.|Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science, RAS, Tomsk, 634021 Russia.|Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo, 143025 Russia.
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Psakhie
authors.affiliation: Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, 10623 Germany.|National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, 634050 Russia.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Popov