scholarly journals Study on Lubrication Characteristics of C4-Alkane and Nanoparticle during Boundary Friction by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1464
Author(s):  
Xuan Zheng ◽  
Lihong Su ◽  
Guanyu Deng ◽  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Hongtao Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Sliding Friction ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Normal Load ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Boundary Friction ◽  
Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Large Space ◽  
Friction Mode ◽  
Contact Surfaces

Lubricant has been widely applied to reduce wear and friction between the contact surfaces when they are in relative motion. In the current study, a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulation was specifically established to conduct a comprehensive investigation on the dynamic contact between two iron surfaces in a boundary friction system considering the mixed C4-alkane and nanoparticles as lubricant. The main research objective was to explore the effects of fluid and nanoparticles addition on the surface contact and friction force. It was found that nanoparticles acted like ball bearings between the contact surfaces, leading to a change of sliding friction mode to rolling friction mode. Under normal loads, plastic deformation occurred at the top surface because nanoparticles were mainly supporting the normal load. By increasing the number of C4-alkane molecules between two contact surfaces, the contact condition has been changed from partial to full lubrication. In addition, an attractive force from the solid–liquid LJ interaction between C4-alkane and surfaces was observed at the early stage of sliding, due to the large space formed by wall surfaces and nanoparticles. The findings in this paper would be beneficial for understanding the frictional behavior of a simple lubricant with or without nanoparticles addition in a small confinement.

Dynamical Behavior and Flow Mechanism of Fluid in Nanochannel by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanfang Liu ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Qin Li
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Dynamical Behavior ◽  
Velocity Profiles ◽  
The Other ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Interfacial Region ◽  
Flow Mechanism ◽  
Bulk Fluid

The flow properties and dynamical behavior of fluid in a nanochannel were investigated by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. First of all, the locale distribution of molecules in the channel is found to be strongly inhomogeneous compared to the bulk fluid. In the vicinity of the wall, portion of the fluid molecules are absorbed on the surface of wall due to the strong interaction of the atoms between the wall and liquid, so that the fluid density in the contact region would be much larger than one of the bulk fluid. But in the other region, the local density value approaches one of the bulk fluids with the increasing distance from the wall. This oscillatory behavior of density resulted in different motion behavior of molecules in the different region of nanochannel. The molecular behavior in the interfacial region is remarkably different from those of fluid atoms in the center of channel and wall atoms, which posses both the motion properties of bulk liquids and a solid atom. At the molecular level, macroscopic continuum hypothesis failed, that is, the results predicted by the Navier-Stoke equations deviate from the simulation data adopted by molecular dynamics simulation. In the paper, the velocity profiles for the channels with different width were plotted, which demonstrated that the time-averaged velocity profiles was not quadratic when the channel width was less than 10 molecular diameters. But on the other cases, the velocity profiles will agree well with the analytical solution based on the NS theory. The molecular dynamics simulation method can withdraw the important microscopical information from the simulation process, which benefit to analyze the flow mechanism at such length scale channel.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document