About this Research Topic
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones
(Ecclesiastes 3:5)
It is a time to gather stones... The main idea behind this Research Topic is to show to what extent one can understand tribology with macroscopic contact mechanics. By "macroscopic contact mechanics" we mean any approach based on continuum mechanics, including the corresponding elastic problems, viscoelasticity, adhesion, hydrodynamic and elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication, etc. In short, the papers of this Research Topic will address the question: What can and what cannot be described in the framework of the macroscopic continuum mechanics approaches? This collection of papers may contain both pros and cons of continuum mechanics approaches, to gather a comprehensive overview of what needs be improved.
Certainly, macroscopic approaches do not go to the ultimate (atomic) scale. Thus, there should be some "chemistry" or other processes which, at some length scale, become relevant over continuum mechanics. Based on the advances of contact mechanics achieved during the last decades, we would like to track where such limits are. Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Contact mechanics of homogeneous, gradient and multifield media
- Contact mechanics of viscoelastic bodies
- Thermodynamics and kinetics of contact and friction
- Structural and fluid superlubricity
- Bioadhesion, electroadhesion, biotribology and medical applications
- Contact mechanics of living cells and active media
- Friction instabilities across the scales: from nano to geo
- Wear, mechanical mixing, third body formation
- Structural damping, interaction of friction and vibrations, ratchets and actuators
- Friction stir welding, burnishing and other precision manufacturing processes
This Research Topic is based on the contributions of the International Workshop "Contact Mechanics and Friction: Foundations and Applications", TU Berlin, 14.-17, October 2019, but is also open for other contributions.
(Ecclesiastes 3:5)
It is a time to gather stones... The main idea behind this Research Topic is to show to what extent one can understand tribology with macroscopic contact mechanics. By "macroscopic contact mechanics" we mean any approach based on continuum mechanics, including the corresponding elastic problems, viscoelasticity, adhesion, hydrodynamic and elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication, etc. In short, the papers of this Research Topic will address the question: What can and what cannot be described in the framework of the macroscopic continuum mechanics approaches? This collection of papers may contain both pros and cons of continuum mechanics approaches, to gather a comprehensive overview of what needs be improved.
Certainly, macroscopic approaches do not go to the ultimate (atomic) scale. Thus, there should be some "chemistry" or other processes which, at some length scale, become relevant over continuum mechanics. Based on the advances of contact mechanics achieved during the last decades, we would like to track where such limits are. Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Contact mechanics of homogeneous, gradient and multifield media
- Contact mechanics of viscoelastic bodies
- Thermodynamics and kinetics of contact and friction
- Structural and fluid superlubricity
- Bioadhesion, electroadhesion, biotribology and medical applications
- Contact mechanics of living cells and active media
- Friction instabilities across the scales: from nano to geo
- Wear, mechanical mixing, third body formation
- Structural damping, interaction of friction and vibrations, ratchets and actuators
- Friction stir welding, burnishing and other precision manufacturing processes
This Research Topic is based on the contributions of the International Workshop "Contact Mechanics and Friction: Foundations and Applications", TU Berlin, 14.-17, October 2019, but is also open for other contributions.
Keywords: contact mechanics, contact, adhesion, capillarity, rubber friction, biotribology, friction instabilities, third body
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
