Atomistics of Friction

The atomistic mechanisms are proposed for the origin of the static and the dynamic friction forces. The mechanism for the origin of the static friction force resembles the mechanical locking mechanism in a surface roughness model. The origin of the dynamic friction force is formulated as a problem of how the given translational kinetic energy dissipates into the internal relative motions of constituent atoms of bodies during sliding. From studying that the available phase space volume of the translational motion becomes negligible small for a large system size, compared with that of the internal motions, it is concluded that the energy dissipation occurs irreversibly from the translational motion to the internal motions. A phenomenon of superlubricity, where two solid bodies move relatively with no resistance, is discussed.