ABSTRACT
This article presents an investigation of the dynamical contact between two atomically flat surfaces separated by an ultrathin lubricant film. Using a thermodynamic approach we describe the second-order phase transition between two structural states of the lubricant which leads to the stick-slip mode of boundary friction. An analytical description and numerical simulation with radial distributions of the order parameter, stress and strain were performed to investigate the spatial inhomogeneity. It is shown that in the case when the driving device is connected to the upper part of the friction block through an elastic spring, the frequency of the melting/solidification phase transitions increases with time.
ABSTRACT
Two-dimensional materials beyond graphene are attracting much attention. Recently discovered 2D carbides and nitrides (MXenes) have shown very attractive electrical and electrochemical properties, but their mechanical properties have not been characterized yet. There are neither experimental measurements reported in the literature nor predictions of strength or fracture modes for single-layer MXenes. The mechanical properties of two-dimensional titanium carbides were investigated in this study using classical molecular dynamics. Young's modulus was calculated from the linear part of strain-stress curves obtained under tensile deformation of the samples. Strain-rate effects were observed for all Tin+1Cn samples. From the radial distribution function, it is found that the structure of the simulated samples is preserved during the deformation process. Calculated values of the elastic constants are in good agreement with published DFT data.
