Energy dissipation in dry sliding friction

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The friction force that an object experiences when sliding on a solid surface is intrinsically linked to the "dissipation" of energy. This dissipation occurs because sliding systems are driven into a non-equilibrium state by the external force. Dissipation is often empirically modeled using a viscous damping term, for example in the commonly applied phenomenological Prandtl model of sliding friction. As part of the Research Unit "Reducing complexity of nonequilibrium systems", this project aims at identifying pathways of energy dissipation in molecular dynamics simulations of dry sliding friction of crystalline and disordered solids. We will calculate fundamental vibrational modes of the solid and measure their excitation and how these excitations are thermalized during sliding. From this analysis, we build a coarse-grained model for sliding systems. Systematically derived from first-principles, this coarse-grained model will have predictive power superseding the Prandtl model and enable the design low friction interfaces.