Tunable coefficient of friction with surface texturing in materials engineering and biological systems

• Published in: Current opinion in chemical engineering Vol. 19; pp. 94 - 106
• Main Author: Sekhar, JA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2018
• ISSN: 2211-3398; 2211-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2017.12.002

•A strong influence of the coefficient of friction is noted for multivariate objectives.•A historical review of the applications associated with the coefficient of friction and its tunability is provided.•Adhesive, abrasive, noise, and stick-slip friction with nano-topography and fibrils are studied within the framework of surface texture and pair velocity.•Wear, bunching and separation of asperities are discussed for materials and biological systems.•It is suggested that the plasticity indices may be employed for the study of the stability of the coefficient of friction. A strong influence of the coefficient of friction is noted for multivariate objectives. In this brief review a historical summary of the applications associated with the coefficient of friction and its tunability, as well as the changing drivers for materials’ development from empirical to surface-reconstruction based understanding are discussed. Adhesive, abrasive, noise, and stick-slip friction with nanofeatures and fibrils are studied within the framework of surface texture. Wear, bunching and separation of asperities are discussed for materials and biological systems. It is suggested that the plasticity indices may be employed for the study of the stability of the coefficient of friction. The combination properties of the roughness/auto-correlation length, the critical velocity Vc that is based on the materials’ specific-wear constant, the surface-compositing chemistry, and the contact temperature, are noted to describe the texture for friction.