Calculated Assessment of the Size of an Elementary Tribosystem

Abstract—

The friction surface is a concept that has established itself in tribology and the definitions of friction processes. It is clear that this is a tribute to the traditional logic of continuum mechanics. On the other hand, the physical and materials science logic of the real formalization of the concept of surface determines its concretization, which differs from conditional geometricity. In the proposed article, the author, having previously considered the general structural and energy patterns of the evolution of rubbing surfaces, comes to the concept of a critical volume of friction, which is adequate to the concept of equilibrium roughness. The author defines this volume as the volume of an elementary tribosystem. This volume within the framework of the model of the moving critical volume of friction is an elementary tribotransformer of energy. An elementary tribosystem is formed as an adaptive response of a deformed rigid body under friction, the smallest volume that has accumulated the potential energy of defects of extreme density. It has an internal equilibrium far from the state of initial equilibrium. Further, this volume evolves structurally with the constancy of its size. An attempt is made to physically model this critical equilibrium volume of friction. A model of ideal equilibrium of the volume of an atomically smooth surface within a certain elementary nominal friction area adequate to the volume of equilibrium roughness is considered. A method for calculating this critical and equilibrium friction volume is proposed. The principle of extrapolation of the equilibrium volume (oscillation amplitude) of an atomically rough surface to the temperature of absolute zero is substantiated. The direct correlation of the size of the critical friction volume with the size of the equilibrium roughness of the rubbing surfaces is shown. A refined calculation of the critical size of friction—an elementary tribosystem in the state of its ideal evolution according to the model of a mechanical (nano) quantum as an elementary subtribosystem is performed.