The Effect of Adhesion on the Static Friction Properties of Sidewall Contact Interfaces of Microelectromechanical Devices

Static friction between sidewall contact surfaces of polycrystalline silicon micromachines was investigated under different contact pressures, vacuum conditions, relative humidity levels, and temperatures. The static coefficient of friction exhibited a nonlinear dependence on the external contact pressure. A difference between in-contact and pull-out adhesion forces was observed due to the elastic recovery of the deformed asperities at the contact interface. The true static coefficient of friction was determined by considering the effects of the dominant adhesion forces (i.e., van der Waals and capillary forces) on the normal force applied at the sidewall contact interface. The roles of van der Waals and capillary forces in the sidewall friction behavior were analyzed in light of results for the interfacial shear strength and the adhesion force. The major benefits of the present friction micromachine and the developed experimental scheme are discussed in the context of static coefficient of friction and adhesion force results obtained under different environmental and loading conditions     

Plane strain sliding contact of multilayer magnetic storage thin-films using the finite element method

The sliding contact or scratch behavior of multi-layer thin-films such as those found in magnetic storage disks has been studied using the finite element method. A rigid cylinder sliding over a multilayered thin-film half-space was implemented to simulate the contact between a feature of the recording slider (such as the protrusion on the trailing edge of the slider, which is part of the thermal flying-height control, TFC) and the magnetic storage multilayer disk. The effects of different parameters such as normal load, friction coefficient and TFC radius on the von Mises, shear and principal stresses in the multilayer system were analyzed. Results showed that under sliding conditions, for a given normal load, the friction coefficient influences the location and magnitude of the plastic strain in the multilayer system. Repeated sliding contact was also performed to characterize its effect on the stress and strain behavior under various loading conditions and investigate shakedown behavior.     

Frictional Aging and Sliding Bifurcation in Monolayer-Coated Micromachines

Using a high-performance polycrystalline-silicon micromachined actuator that also functions as a friction tester, we have found frictional forces that cannot be explained by Amontons' law with a constant coefficient of friction. In our friction test, a constant tangential force is applied while normal load is ramped down at a rate mathdotF _n after a hold time t _h at a hold load F _h. When coated by a monolayer of FOTAS (CF₃ C₅F₁₀C₂H₄Si(N(CH₃)₂)₃), we find that there is no unique coefficient of static friction mu_s , but instead that mu_s depends on all three of these parameters. The dependence on t _h implies static friction aging, but the rate of static friction aging can be suppressed by greater hold force. When sliding motion begins, we have identified a critical normal force to shear force ratio such that any motion initiating above the critical ratio proceeds with time-dependent frictional creep over several hundred nanometers, whereas any motion initiating below the critical ratio proceeds with a large inertial jump. These effects demonstrate that contact aging effects extend from the micrometer to the nanometer scale and are relevant to micromachined interfaces.     

Flow resistance of a liquid droplet confined between two hydrophobic surfaces

Flow resistance of a liquid droplet confined between two hydrophobic surfaces has been investigated experimentally and factors contributing to the flow resistance have been studied. A water droplet has been sheared between two hydrophobic surfaces and shear resistance has been measured. The experimental results show that the shear resistance at low shear velocities is primarily caused by asymmetrical surface tension due to the contact angle hysteresis. A droplet on a rough hydrophobic surface remains almost symmetrical under shear and exhibits extremely low friction. The shear resistance at high shear velocities is affected by viscous force. Furthermore, sliding angles of water droplets on micropatterned hydrophobic surfaces have been measured to clarify the effects of surface topography on flow resistance. Surfaces with many prismatic structures raised out of the plane tend to exhibit low sliding angles.     

Friction model of fingertip sliding over wavy surface for friction-variable tactile feedback panel

A friction-variable touch panel is capable of presenting virtual bumps and holes on its flat surface through the control of the surface friction when a fingertip slides over it. To improve the presentation, we developed a friction model of a fingertip sliding over a sinusoidal surface with an amplitude of 0.5–2.5 mm and a spatial wavelength of 20–50 mm. When a metal ball rolls over a wavy surface with a low friction and contact area, the ratio of the horizontal force to the normal force is equal to the gradient of the surface (this is referred to as the ball bearing model) and is hardly affected by the normal load and rolling speed. In contrast, the profile of the force ratio of a sliding finger is substantially skewed and affected by the sliding direction and normal force exerted by the finger. To model this skewed force ratio, we formulated the asymmetric pressure distribution in the finger-surface contact area and used the effects of the adhesion friction to model the dependency of the force ratio on the normal force and sliding direction. The developed model of a bare finger with these features was found to sufficiently simulate the experimentally observed force ratios. The model can be easily applied to friction-variable touch panels and enables the achievement of a wide variety of haptic contents with macroscopically concave or convex surfaces.     

Mechanical stability of the interface between a padded slider and magnetic recording disk

Contact state, friction, and meniscus load between a padded slider and a smooth disk are discrete; friction is determined by the number of pads in contact and the meniscus load acting at each pad. By inducing frictional changes through varying sliding direction, we force the slider from one stable state to another and infer which pads are in contact from the corresponding changes in friction. We find the stability of a given contact state is influenced by friction coefficient, pad location, meniscus load, applied mechanical loads and applied moments. A model is proposed to account for these effects.     

A MEMS Device for Studying the Friction Behavior of Micromachined Sidewall Surfaces

A microelectromechanical system device fabricated by deep reactive ion etching for friction characterization was developed with single-crystal silicon in this paper. Two orthogonally placed electrostatic comb-drive actuators were adopted to apply the normal load and generate the tangential motion. A sensing plate for sliding contact and a driving plate with two bumps designed for the Hertzian contact are included in the testing device. With an image processing technique developed, experimental displacement data were extracted from the captured video frames. A quasi-static stick–slip model was developed to predict the transitions between static and kinetic friction at the contacting sidewall surfaces. Both static and kinetic friction coefficients can be determined by using this model, and these measured results are shown to be insensitive to errors in the calculation of the electrostatic forces. The measured displacements of the driving and sensing plates are in good agreement with the trend predicted by the model. Based on the Hertz theory, the contact silicon interface has been found to be in an elastic regime at the scale of the designed bumps. With the aid of the quasi-static stick–slip model, a saturation phenomenon of the kinetic friction at the sidewall surfaces was observed while the normal load was increased. $hfill$[2007-0302]      

An experimental study of sidewall adhesion in microelectromechanical systems

A surface micromachine was designed specifically for studying sidewall adhesion in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The dependence of surface adhesion on contact load and ambient conditions was investigated under quasistatic normal loading conditions. Insight was obtained into the relative contributions of van der Waals and capillary forces to the measured adhesion force. Several shortcomings in previous adhesion studies of MEMS were overcome, and measurement of the true adhesion force was achieved under different testing conditions. The present experimental procedure enables the isolation of the van der Waals component of the adhesion force and the determination of the contributions of both contacting and noncontacting asperities to the total adhesion force at the inception of surface separation. The major benefits of the developed experimental methodology and surface micromachine are discussed in the context of adhesion results obtained for different values of apparent contact pressure, ambient pressure, and relative humidity.     

Wear of Polysilicon Surface Micromachines Operated in High Vacuum

The evolution of wear at sidewall surfaces of polysilicon microelectromechanical systems was investigated in high vacuum under controlled normal load and sliding speed conditions. The static adhesion force was used as an indicator of the changes in wear characteristics occurring during oscillatory sliding contact. Measurements of the static adhesion force as a function of sliding cycles and scanning electron microscopy observations of micromachines from the same batch process subjected to nominally identical testing conditions revealed two distinctly different tribological patterns, namely, low-adhesion/high-wear behavior and high-adhesion/low-wear behavior. The static adhesion force and wear behavior were found to be in direct correlation with the micromachine operational lifetime. Transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy yielded insight into the origin, microstructure, and composition of wear debris and agglomerates adhered onto the sliding surfaces. Results demonstrate a strong dependence of micromachine operational life on the removal of the native oxide film and the organic monolayer coating as well as the formation of agglomerates consisting of organic coating material and wear debris.     

Finite element analysis of elastodynamic sliding contact problems with friction

This paper presents a general but effective finite element technique to analyze elastodynamic sliding contact problems with friction. The deformed contact area is obtained using the constraint conditions developed by a quadratic mathematic programming technique. Lagrangian multipliers are introduced to evaluate the contact pressures due to friction and determine the adhesion or release of contact surface. Based on these, the sliding process between two contact surfaces is accurately modelled. This work also provides the correction formulae for modelling the transient response of velocities and accelerations on the contact surface when the initial impact or release of the contact surface occurred. Several numerical examples are carried out to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of this work. The complete scheme of the transient sliding response of two contact components subjected to oblique impact loadings is drawn.     

Observation of the floor surface topography changes in pedestrian slip resistance measurements

This study is concerned with the changes of the floor surface topography in the early stage of repetitive wear rubbings and the relationships between slip resistance properties and operationally defined geometric characteristics of the floor surfaces. It was assumed that: (1) alterations in surface topography will be associated with changes in the DFC; and (2) wear process will be accompanied by changes in surface topography. For the analysis of initial characterization on the surface topography, specially prepared, dry and clean metal and perspex specimens were chosen. The surface profiles of the fresh and rubbed flooring specimens were recorded using a laser scanning confocal microscope. From the profile ordinate data read at 1 μm intervals, a number of surface roughness parameters – centre line average, root-mean-square roughness, maximum height, maximum mean peak height, maximum mean depth, and absolute average asperity slope were calculated using a computer program. The skew and the kurtosis of the statistical distribution of each surface profile were also computed. The results indicate that the asperity height and the maximum mean depth were significantly reduced after the friction tests. The average slope of asperities was the parameter that most highly correlated with the dynamic friction coefficient. The analyses also showed that the surface parameters underwent large variations initially, but subsequently these changes were less marked, which was explained by the transition from unsteady-state friction to steady-state friction. These results found that slip resistance properties between the shoes and the floor counterfaces were greatly influenced by the manner in which the geometry of the floor surface was modified. It was suggested that measurement of changes in the surface geometry provides additional information on the analysis of slip resistance and could usefully be reported with friction measurements.

Relevance to industry

Slipping and falling accidents are a major ergonomic and safety concern in the workplace and the general community. Prevention of slip hazard has focused on designing “slip resistant” footwear and floor surfaces. This study is primarily concerned with the understanding of friction and wear mechanisms from a tribological point of view. A tribological approach may provide additional useful information about slip resistance performance.     

填埋场典型复合衬垫系统单剪试验数值模拟

为研究填埋场典型复合衬垫系统接触面间的滑动特性,建立典型复合衬垫系统单剪试验的有限元模型,用ANSYS对其进行数值仿真分析.研究复合衬垫不同界面在不同法向力下的滑动特征;绘制衬垫系统不同界面节点的应力 位移关系曲线,得到不同法向力作用下各个界面不同位置点沿剪切位移方向和垂直剪切位移方向的切应力变化规律;分析接触面内节点的剪切位移随载荷步的变化特征.结果表明：随法向力的增加,滑动界面将发生转移;在低法向力（56 kPa）条件下,土工网 土工膜界面发生滑动;在高法向压力条件下（压力超过560 kPa）,土工膜 黏土界面发生滑动.     

A novel model for assessing sliding mechanics and tactile sensation of human-like fingertips during slip action

This paper presents a model for displaying friction and localized stick/slip of sliding inhomogeneous human-like fingertips, to understand how slippage occurs and its role in assessing tactile sensing mechanics. In the absence of friction, the fingertip slides, as on an ice surface, in the virtual world of haptic interfaces. Slippage of fingertip at very low velocity can reflect micro stick/slip on a contact area, which is challenging to represent in any friction model. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose that a Beam Bundle Model (BBM) can be used to model a human fingertip during pushing and sliding actions, especially during stick-to-slip transition. To construct its three-dimensional, non-homogeneous structure, we obtained a sequential series of magnetic resonance images, showing consecutive cross-sectional layers of a fingertip with distribution of skin, tissue, bone, and nail. Simulation results showed that this model could generate not only normal force distribution caused by pushing, but also response of friction during stick-to-slip transition. Secondly, and more interestingly, the model dynamically produced localized displacement phenomena on the contact area during stick-to-slip phase, indicating how slippage enlarges the contact area prior to total slippage of the fingertip. These findings may better assess the sliding processes of human fingertips, and how and when slippage occurs on the contact surface. This model may be a useful platform for studying tactile perception of fingertips.     

An investigation of thermal asperity sensors during contact with disk asperities

In this study, a thermo-mechanical finite element model was developed for the response of a thermal asperity sensor sliding against a disk asperity. The temperature change of the thermal asperity sensor due to frictional heating was determined. The effect of disk asperity material properties and contact conditions is investigated.     

抛光过程游离单颗磨粒与光学元件间滚动摩擦接触分析

针对游离单颗磨粒与光学元件滚动接触过程中摩擦、磨损机理分析的不足及如何 有效控制滚动单颗磨粒对光学元件亚表面损伤的影响等问题,基于滚动接触理论,提出了一种 具有分形特征表面的单颗磨粒与光学元件双粗糙面间的摩擦、磨损接触模型,并运用有限元仿 真分析微观动态滚动的接触过程。通过对不同剪切强度下接触力、接触应力、磨粒角度及其对 亚表面损伤的影响等分析,发现随着剪切强度的增强,磨粒与光学元件表面接触界面间的摩擦 系数将减小,最佳的磨粒角度为105°~120°,并且分形特征的单颗磨粒对亚表面损伤的影响要 大于球形特征单颗磨粒,这说明了研究分形特征游离单颗磨粒滚动接触的必要性和重要性,为 更加深刻了解滚动接触过程的摩擦机理提供了借鉴意义。     

The role of friction in the measurement of slipperiness,Part 1: Friction mechanisms and definition of test conditions

Friction has been widely used as a measure of slipperiness. However, controversies around friction measurements remain. The purposes of this paper are to summarize understanding about friction measurement related to slipperiness assessment of shoe and floor interface and to define test conditions based on biomechanical observations. In addition, friction mechanisms at shoe and floor interface on dry, liquid and solid contaminated, and on icy surfaces are discussed. It is concluded that static friction measurement, by the traditional use of a drag-type device, is only suitable for dry and clean surfaces, and dynamic and transition friction methods are needed to properly estimate the potential risk on contaminated surfaces. Furthermore, at least some of the conditions at the shoe/floor interface during actual slip accidents should be replicated as test conditions for friction measurements, such as sliding speed, contact pressure and normal force build-up rate.     

The role of friction in the measurement of slipperiness, Part 1: friction mechanisms and definition of test conditions.

Friction has been widely used as a measure of slipperiness. However, controversies around friction measurements remain. The purposes of this paper are to summarize understanding about friction measurement related to slipperiness assessment of shoe and floor interface and to define test conditions based on biomechanical observations. In addition, friction mechanisms at shoe and floor interface on dry, liquid and solid contaminated, and on icy surfaces are discussed. It is concluded that static friction measurement, by the traditional use of a drag-type device, is only suitable for dry and clean surfaces, and dynamic and transition friction methods are needed to properly estimate the potential risk on contaminated surfaces. Furthermore, at least some of the conditions at the shoe/floor interface during actual slip accidents should be replicated as test conditions for friction measurements, such as sliding speed, contact pressure and normal force build-up rate.     

Concerning a Technique for Increasing Stability of Climbing Robots

Legged-climbing robot is considered. Each foot of the robot has an electromagnet system for robot"s holding on a metal surface. This surface can be both vertical and inclined, including negative slope. Analytical calculation of robot stability under turn over or sliding conditions has been made. Critical slopes have been determined. One of these slopes corresponds to minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding and another to minimal reserve of robot stability towards turning-over. As total reserve of stability of a robot is always equal to the minimal one of these reserves. Additional support elements of elastic material with high coefficient of friction, along with electromagnet, allows to increase minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding. The use of such support elements leads to redistributing force of normal support reaction between electromagnet (which surface has low coefficient of friction) and additional support element (which surface has high coefficient of friction). It is just what leads to increasing the total friction force and as a consequence to increasing of minimal reserve of robot stability towards sliding.     

滑动电接触磨耗测控系统的研究

为了研究受电弓滑板和接触导线的摩擦磨损性能,研制了一台高性能滑动电接触磨耗试验机;其可以实现导线和滑板的均匀磨耗,可在一定范围内实现电流、载荷和速度等方面的单、多因素控制,实现对接触导线与滑板摩擦系数、滑板往复移动次数、接触导线与滑板磨耗量等的实时在线测量和数据储存,同时设计了基于LabVIEW的监测界面和数据处理系统。通过实验,分析了强电流对浸铜碳滑板摩擦磨损的影响,得出摩擦系数和磨耗率随电流的增大而增大的结论。     

An analysis method for atomistic abrasion simulations featuring rough surfaces and multiple abrasive particles

We present a molecular dynamics (MD) model system to quantitatively study nanoscopic wear of rough surfaces under two-body and three-body contact conditions with multiple abrasive particles. We describe how to generate a surface with a pseudo-random Gaussian topography which is periodically replicable, and we discuss the constraints on the abrasive particles that lead to certain wear conditions. We propose a post-processing scheme which, based on advection velocity, dynamically identifies the atoms in the simulation as either part of a wear particle, the substrate, or the sheared zone in-between. This scheme is then justified from a crystallographic order point of view. We apply a distance-based contact zone identification scheme and outline a clustering algorithm which can associate each contact atom with the abrasive particle causing the respective contact zone. Finally, we show how the knowledge of each atom’s zone affiliation and a time-resolved evaluation of the substrate topography leads to a break-down of the asperity volume reduction into its components: the pit fill-up volume, the individual wear particles, the shear zone, and the sub-surface substrate compression. As an example, we analyze the time and pressure dependence of the wear volume contributions for two-body and three-body wear processes of a rough iron surface with rigid spherical and cubic abrasive particles.