ATOMISTIC MECHANISMS OF ADHESIVE CONTACT FORMATION AND INTERFACIAL PROCESSES

Investigations were undertaken using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of atomistic mechanisms of adhesive contact formation, friction, and wear processes. These processes occur as a result of interactions between material tips and substrate surfaces and reveal the energetics and dynamics of various wear phenomena. These include jump-to-contact, elastic, plastic and yield processes, connective neck formation, wetting, reconstruction, atomic-scale stick-slip, and materials transfer. Results are presented for several tip and substrate materials, including intermetallic (nickel and gold), interionic (CaF2), and thin alkane (n-hexadecane) films adsorbed on a metal (gold) surface and interacting with a metal (nickel) tip.