Stick-slip dynamics as a probe of frictional forces

• Published in: Europhysics letters Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 183 - 188
• Main Authors: Rozman, M. G, Urbakh, M, Klafter, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 15.07.1997; EDP Sciences
• Subjects: 05.45.+b; 46.30.Pa; 68.15.+e
• ISSN: 0295-5075; 1286-4854
• DOI: 10.1209/epl/i1997-00333-0

In this letter we investigate the nature of relaxation in a model system which consists of a chain of particles that interact with two periodic potentials which represent two confining plates, one of which is externally driven. We find that the relaxation of the “slip” part between two “stick” events in the stick-slip time series may display more than one characteristic time scale. Similar relaxation patterns are observed also in the case of a single particle located between the plates. The different relaxation times are shown to be related to a velocity-dependent effective frictional force felt by the driven plate, and their actual observation is dictated by the experimental conditions.