Lubricated friction and volume dilatancy are coupled

Abstract

Dilation (expansion of film thickness) by similar to0.1 A, which is less than one-tenth of the width of confined fluid molecules, was observed when confined films crossed from the resting state ("static friction") to sliding ("kinetic friction"). These measurements were based on using piezoelectric bimorph sensors possessing extremely high resolution for detecting position changes, during the course of sliding molecularly thin films of squalane, a model lubricant fluid, between atomically smooth single crystals of mica. Detailed inspection of energy balance shows that the dilation data and the friction forces satisfied energy conservation of identifiable energies at the slip point, from static to kinetic friction. This shows experimentally, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a direct coupling between friction forces and decrease in the mean density of the intervening molecularly thin fluid.