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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Perception of Friction in Tactile Exploration of Micro-structured Rubber Samples
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2022) Fehlberg, Maja; Kim, Kwang-Seop; Drewing, Knut; Hensel, René; Bennewitz, Roland; Seifi, Hasti; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Schneider, Oliver; Drewing, Knut; Pacchierotti, Claudio; Abbasimoshaei, Alireza; Huisman, Gijs; Kern, Thorsten A.
    Fingertip friction and the related shear of skin are key mechanical mechanisms in tactile perception, but the perception of friction itself is rarely explored except for the flat surfaces of tactile displays. We investigated the perception of friction for tactile exploration of a unique set of samples whose fabric-like surfaces are equipped with regular arrays of flexible micropillars. The measured fingertip friction increases with decreasing bending stiffness, where the latter is controlled by radius (20–75 µm) and aspect ratio of the micropillars. In forced-choice tasks, participants noticed relative differences in friction as small as 0.2, and even smaller when a sample with less than 100 µm distance between pillars is omitted from the analysis. In an affective ranking of samples upon active touch, the perception of pleasantness is anticorrelated with the measured friction. Our results offer insights towards a rational design of materials with well-controlled surface microstructure which elicit a dedicated tactile appeal.
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    Friction, abrasion and crack growth behavior of in-situ and ex-situ silica filled rubber composites
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Vaikuntam, Sankar Raman; Bhagavatheswaran, Eshwaran Subramani; Xiang, Fei; Wießner, Sven; Heinrich, Gert; Das, Amit; Stöckelhuber, Klaus Werner
    The article focuses on comparing the friction, abrasion, and crack growth behavior of two different kinds of silica-filled tire tread compounds loaded with (a) in-situ generated alkoxide silica and (b) commercial precipitated silica-filled compounds. The rubber matrix consists of solution styrene butadiene rubber polymers (SSBR). The in-situ generated particles are entirely different in filler morphology, i.e., in terms of size and physical structure, when compared to the precipitated silica. However, both types of the silicas were identified as amorphous in nature. Influence of filler morphology and surface modification of silica on the end performances of the rubbers like dynamic friction, abrasion index, and fatigue crack propagation were investigated. Compared to precipitated silica composites, in-situ derived silica composites offer better abrasion behavior and improved crack propagation with and without admixture of silane coupling agents. Silane modification, particle morphology, and crosslink density were identified as further vital parameters influencing the investigated rubber properties. © 2020 by the authors.
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    Charged polymers transport under applied electric fields in periodic channels
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2013) Nedelcu, S.; Sommer, J.-U.
    By molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the transport of charged polymers in applied electric fields in confining environments, which were straight cylinders of uniform or non-uniform diameter. In the simulations, the solvent was modeled explicitly and, also, the counterions and coions of added salt. The electrophoretic velocities of charged chains in relation to electrolyte friction, hydrodynamic effects due to the solvent, and surface friction were calculated. We found that the velocities were higher if counterions were moved away from the polymeric domain, which led to a decrease in hydrodynamic friction. The topology of the surface played a key role in retarding the motion of the polyelectrolyte and, even more so, in the presence of transverse electric fields. The present study showed that a possible way of improving separation resolution is by controlling the motion of counterions or electrolyte friction effects.
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    Formation of intermittent covalent bonds at high contact pressure limits superlow friction on epitaxial graphene
    (College Park, MD : APS, 2023) Szczefanowicz, Bartosz; Kuwahara, Takuya; Filleter, Tobin; Klemenz, Andreas; Mayrhofer, Leonhard; Bennewitz, Roland; Moseler, Michael
    Epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) exhibits superlow friction due to its weak out-of-plane interactions. Friction-force microscopy with silicon tips shows an abrupt increase of friction by one order of magnitude above a threshold normal force. Density-functional tight-binding simulations suggest that this wearless high-friction regime involves an intermittent sp3 rehybridization of graphene at contact pressure exceeding 10 GPa. The simultaneous formation of covalent bonds with the tip's silica surface and the underlying SiC interface layer establishes a third mechanism limiting the superlow friction on epitaxial graphene, in addition to dissipation in elastic instabilities and in wear processes.
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    Polymer Brushes under High Load
    (San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science, 2013) Balko, S.M.; Kreer, T.; Costanzo, P.J.; Patten, T.E.; Johner, A.; Kuhl, T.L.; Marques, C.M.
    Polymer coatings are frequently used to provide repulsive forces between surfaces in solution. After 25 years of design and study, a quantitative model to explain and predict repulsion under strong compression is still lacking. Here, we combine experiments, simulations, and theory to study polymer coatings under high loads and demonstrate a validated model for the repulsive forces, proposing that this universal behavior can be predicted from the polymer solution properties.
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    Electrodeposition of nanocrystalline Fe-P coatings: Influence of bath temperature and glycine concentration on structure, mechanical and corrosion behavior
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2019) Kovalska, N.; Tsyntsaru, N.; Cesiulis, H.; Gebert, A.; Fornell, J.; Pellicer, E.; Sort, J.; Hansal, W.; Kautek, W.
    A detailed electrochemical study and investigation of a Fe-P glycine bath as a function of the temperature and glycine concentrations and current density, and their resulting corrosion and mechanical behavior is presented. A low addition of glycine to the electrolyte led to a drastic increase of the P content. At low Fe-P deposition rates, heterogeneous rough deposits with morphological bumps and pores were observed. By increasing the Fe-P deposition rate, the number of pores were reduced drastically, resulting in smooth coatings. Increasing the P content led to the formation of nanocrystalline grains from an "amorphous-like" state. Coatings with higher P contents exhibited better corrosion resistance and hardening, most likely attributed to grain boundary strengthening.
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    Degradation analysis of tribologically loaded carbon nanotubes and carbon onions
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2023) MacLucas, T.; Grützmacher, P.; Husmann, S.; Schmauch, J.; Keskin, S.; Suarez, S.; Presser, V.; Gachot, C.; Mücklich, F.
    Coating laser-patterned stainless-steel surfaces with carbon nanotubes (CNT) or carbon onions (CO) forms a tribological system that provides effective solid lubrication. Lubricant retention represents the fundamental mechanism of this system, as storing the particles inside the pattern prevents lubricant depletion in the contact area. In previous works, we used direct laser interference patterning to create line patterns with three different structural depths on AISI 304 stainless-steel platelets. Electrophoretic deposition subsequently coated the patterned surfaces with either CNTs or COs. Ball-on-disc friction tests were conducted to study the effect of structural depth on the solid lubricity of as-described surfaces. The results demonstrated that the shallower the textures, the lower the coefficient of friction, regardless of the applied particle type. This follow-up study examines the carbon nanoparticles’ structural degradation after friction testing on substrates patterned with different structural depths (0.24, 0.36, and 0.77 µm). Raman characterization shows severe degradation of both particle types and is used to classify their degradation state within Ferrari’s three-stage amorphization model. It was further shown that improving CNT lubricity translates into increasing particle defectivity. This is confirmed by electron microscopy, which shows decreasing crystalline domains. Compared to CNTs, CO-derived tribofilms show even more substantial structural degradation.
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    Nanoscale friction on MoS2/graphene heterostructures
    (Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2023) Liu, Zhao; Szczefanowicz, Bartosz; Lopes, J. Marcelo J.; Gan, Ziyang; George, Antony; Turchanin, Andrey; Bennewitz, Roland
    Stacked hetero-structures of two-dimensional materials allow for a design of interactions with corresponding electronic and mechanical properties. We report structure, work function, and frictional properties of 1 to 4 layers of MoS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition on epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). Experiments were performed by atomic force microscopy in ultra-high vacuum. Friction is dominated by adhesion which is mediated by a deformation of the layers to adapt the shape of the tip apex. Friction decreases with increasing number of MoS2 layers as the bending rigidity leads to less deformation. The dependence of friction on applied load and bias voltage can be attributed to variations in the atomic potential corrugation of the interface, which is enhanced by both load and applied bias. Minimal friction is obtained when work function differences are compensated.