The effect of surface texture on the kinetic friction of a nanowire on a substrate

Hongtao Xie; James Mead; Shiliang Wang; Han Huang

doi:10.1038/srep44907

The effect of surface texture on the kinetic friction of a nanowire on a substrate

Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 21:7:44907. doi: 10.1038/srep44907.

Authors

Hongtao Xie¹, James Mead¹, Shiliang Wang¹, Han Huang¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland, QLD4072, Australia.

Abstract

The friction between Al₂O₃ nanowires and silicon substrates of different surface textures was characterised by use of optical manipulation. It was found that surface textures had significant effect on both the friction and the effective contact area between a nanowire and a substrate. A genetic algorithm was developed to determine the effective contact area between the nanowire and the textured substrate. The frictional force was found to be nearly proportional to the effective contact area, regardless of width, depth, spacing and orientation of the surface textures. Interlocking caused by textured grooves was not observed in this study.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't