The impact of coulombic interactions among polar molecules and metal substrates on flow and lubrication properties

K Gkagkas and V Ponnuchamy, MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, 25, 064004 (2017).

DOI: 10.1088/1361-651X/aa7ac5

In the current work we present an extensive study on the impact of short- and long-range interactions between solids and liquids on the hydrodynamic and lubrication behaviour of a tribological system. We have implemented a coarse grain molecular dynamics description of two ionic liquids (ILs) as lubricants which are confined by two infinitely long flat iron solids and which are subjected to a shearing flow. The impact of surface polarizability and molecule geometry on the ion arrangement under shearing has been studied in detail. The results have revealed two regimes of lubrication, with a liquid phase being present under low normal loads, while solidification of the ILs, accompanied by a steep rise of normal forces and significant wall slip is observed at small plate-to-plate distances.

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