Capillary condensation and its effect on adhesion and friction
Published:
I was also interested in the effects of capillary condensation (spontaneous formation of a liquid phase in the vicinity of solids from a vapor at sub-saturating pressure) on friction properties. Liquid bridges are formed which modify contact forces, and hence friction. The wide size distribution of nucleation sites, and hence of metastability barriers, has the effect of inducing logarithmic aging of friction coefficients. I have developed experiments to quantify the relationship between the time evolution of solid friction coefficients and the presence of vapor.