Lubricants molecular model

The molecular model is confined to the case of weak adhesion (5 < 0) to ensure homogeneous contact [48, 65]. In this case, two sources contribute to the frictional stress of a gel elastic deformation of an adsorbing polymer chain Cei and the lubrication of the hydrated layer of the polymer network ffvis, which can be represented as follows (Fig. 12) ... 

Motivated by this recent interest in monolayer lubricants, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to examine monolayers of w-alkanes that are chemically bound or anchored to diamond substrates. A new empirical-potential energy function, which is capable of modeling chemical reactions in hydrocarbons of all phases, has been developed for this work (15). A single-wall, capped armchair nanotube is used to indent these hydrocarbon monolayers and to investigate friction. The effects of tip flexibility and tip speed on indentation and friction are examined. Particular attention will be paid to the formation of defects and bond rupture (and formation) during the course of the simulations. Previous MD simulations have examined the structure (16-18) and compression of -alkanethiols on Au (19,20). The major difference between those studies and the work discussed here is that irreversible chemical changes (or changes in hybridization associated with bond rupture and formation) are possible in these studies. 

The traditional, essentially phenomenological modeling of boundary lubrication should retain its value. It seems clear, however, that newer results such as those discussed here will lead to spectacular modification of explanations at the molecular level. Note, incidentally, that the tenor of recent results was anticipated in much earlier work using the blow-off method for estimating the viscosity of thin films [68]. 

The abiHty to tailor both head and tail groups of the constituent molecules makes SAMs exceUent systems for a more fundamental understanding of phenomena affected by competing intermolecular, molecular—substrate and molecule—solvent interactions, such as ordering and growth, wetting, adhesion, lubrication, and corrosion. Because SAMs are weU-defined and accessible, they are good model systems for studies of physical chemistry and statistical physics in two dimensions, and the crossover to three dimensions. 

In conclusion, it may be said that a lot of literature has been published that favors the Frye and Horst mechanism of stabilization. Most of this is based on studies done on low-molecular weight model compound for al-lylicchlorines in PVC, i.e., 4-chloro-2-hexene. Although the large contribution of these studies toward understanding the mechanism of stabilization of PVC cannot be denied, the extrapolation of these results to the processes involved in the actual stabilization of the polymer should be done with extreme care. The polymer represents a complex mixture of macromolecules, which in the melt is not only physically a very different system compared to the low-molecular weight model compound, but invariably contains, apart from stabilizers, other additives, such as plasticizers, lubricants, processing aids, etc., that further complicate the situation. The criticism of the Frye and Horst mechanism is also based on solid experimental evidence, and hence, the controversy is still very much alive. 

In literature, some researchers regarded that the continuum mechanic ceases to be valid to describe the lubrication behavior when clearance decreases down to such a limit. Reasons cited for the inadequacy of continuum methods applied to the lubrication confined between two solid walls in relative motion are that the problem is so complex that any theoretical approach is doomed to failure, and that the film is so thin, being inherently of molecular scale, that modeling the material as a continuum ceases to be valid. Due to the molecular orientation, the lubricant has an underlying microstructure. They turned to molecular dynamic simulation for help, from which macroscopic flow equations are drawn. This is also validated through molecular dynamic simulation by Hu et al. [6,7] and Mark et al. [8]. To date, experimental research had "got a little too far forward on its skis however, theoretical approaches have not had such rosy prospects as the experimental ones have. Theoretical modeling of the lubrication features associated with TFL is then urgently necessary. 

When the length scale approaches molecular dimensions, the inner spinning" of molecules will contribute to the lubrication performance. It should be borne in mind that it is not considered in the conventional theory of lubrication. The continuum fluid theories with microstructure were studied in the early 1960s by Stokes [22]. Two concepts were introduced couple stress and microstructure. The notion of couple stress stems from the assumption that the mechanical interaction between two parts of one body is composed of a force distribution and a moment distribution. And the microstructure is a kinematic one. The velocity field is no longer sufficient to determine the kinematic parameters the spin tensor and vorticity will appear. One simplified model of polar fluids is the micropolar theory, which assumes that the fluid particles are rigid and randomly ordered in viscous media. Thus, the viscous action, the effect of couple stress, and... 

The system used in the simulations usually consists of solid walls and lubricant molecules, but the specific arrangement of the system depends on the problem under investigation. In early studies, hard spherical molecules, interacting with each other through the Lennard-Jones (L-J) potential, were adopted to model the lubricant [27], but recently we tend to take more realistic models for describing the lubricant molecules. The alkane molecules with flexible linear chains [28,29] and bead-spring chains [7,30] are the examples for the most commonly used molecular architectures. The inter- and intra-molecular potentials, as well as the interactions between the lubricant molecule and solid wall, have to be properly defined in order to get reliable results. Readers who intend to learn more about the specific techniques of the simulations are referred to Refs. [27-29]. 

Study on mechanisms of ordered molecular films as a model lubricant is of particular importance in the field of micro and nano-tribology, for it would help to understand how molecules contribute to the creation of friction and wear. The understanding has been much improved in recent years through MD simulations, performed by investigators around the world, to detect interactions between the molecular films in relative motion, and to reveal the process and specific mode of energy dissipation. 

In the studies that attribute the boundary friction to confined liquid, on the other hand, the interests are mostly in understanding the role of the spatial arrangement of lubricant molecules, e.g., the molecular ordering and transitions among solid, liquid, and amorphous states. It has been proposed in the models of confined liquid, for example, that a periodic phase transition of lubricant between frozen and melting states, which can be detected in the process of sliding, is responsible for the occurrence of the stick-slip motions, but this model is unable to explain how the chemical natures of lubricant molecules would change the performance of boundary lubrication. 

Unlike traditional textbooks of tribology, in this book we regard boundary lubrication as a limit state of hydrodynamic lubrication when film thickness is down to molecular dimension and independent of the velocity of relative motion. The discussions are based on the existing results, some from literatures but mostly from the authors own work. The topics are mainly focused on the mechanical properties of boundary films, including rheology transitions, molecular ordering, and shear responses. Ordered molecule films, such as L-B films and SAM, are discussed, with emphasis on the frictional performance, energy dissipation and the effects from structural features. Boundary films can be modeled either as a confined substance, or an adsorbed/reacted layer on the... 

Mate and Novotny [42] studied the conformation of 0.5-13 nm thick Z-15 on a clean Si (100) surface by means of AFM and XPS. They found that the height for PFPE molecules to extend above a solid surface was no more than 1.5-2.5 nm, which was considerably less than the diameter of gyration of the lubricant molecules ranging between 3.2-7.3 nm. The measured height corresponds to a few molecular diameters of linear polymer chains whose cross-sectional diameter is estimated as 0.6-0.7 nm. The experimental results imply that molecules on a solid surface have an extended, flat conformation. Furthermore, they brought forward a model, as shown in Fig. 28, which illustrates two... 

The work function of the rubbing surfaces and the electron affinity of additives are interconnected on the molecular level. This mechanism has been discussed in terms of tribopolymerization models as a general approach to boundary lubrication (Kajdas 1994, 2001). To evaluate the validity of the anion-radical mechanism, two metal systems were investigated, a hard steel ball on a softer steel plate and a hard ball on an aluminum plate. Both metal plates emit electrons under friction, but aluminum produced more exoelectrons than steel. With aluminum, the addition of 1% styrene to the hexadecane lubricating fluid reduced the wear volume of the plate by over 65%. This effect considerably predominates that of steel on steel. Friction initiates polymerization of styrene, and this polymer formation was proven. It was also found that lauryl methacrylate, diallyl phthalate, and vinyl acetate reduced wear in an aluminum pin-on-disc test by 60-80% (Kajdas 1994). 

The reader is probably familiar with a simple picture of metallic bonding in which we imagine a lattice of cations M"+ studded in a sea of delocalised electrons, smeared out over the whole crystal. This model can rationalise such properties as malleability and ductility these require that layers of atoms can slide over one another without-undue repulsion. The sea of electrons acts like a lubricating fluid to shield the M"+ ions from each other. In contrast, distortion of an ionic structure will necessarily lead to increased repulsion between ions of like charge while deformation of a molecular crystal disrupts the Van der Waals forces that hold it together. It is also easy to visualise the electrical properties of metals in... 

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