Tribological properties and the underlying mechanism of nanometer-thick liquid films with fine functional concavo-convex patterns

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26289027
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design engineering/Machine functional elements/Tribology
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Zhang Hedong 名古屋大学, 情報科学研究科, 准教授 (80345925)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 三矢 保永 公益財団法人名古屋産業科学研究所, 研究部, 上席研究員 (10200065)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: トライボロジー / マイクロ・ナノデバイス / 磁気記録 / 薄膜潤滑

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Aiming at establishing thin film lubrication for sliding surfaces separated by a nanoscale gap, we proposed a method to impart fine functional concavo-convex patterns to nanometer-thick liquid films by masked ultraviolet irradiation, and we confirmed its effectiveness. In this research, we improved and added new functions to our previously developed measuring equipment and coarse-grained molecular simulation method. This allowed us to evaluate and analyze tribological properties of nanometer-thick liquid films with high precision. From the results of experiments and simulations, we clarified the effects of pattern shape and dimension on tribological properties of nanometer-thick liquid films. For instance, films patterned orthogonally to the sliding direction exhibit low friction and fast replenishment of depleted portions, as compared with those patterned parallel to the sliding direction. Other important findings were also obtained, helping us to unveil the underlying mechanism.

Free Research Field

ナノトライボロジー，光応用計測