In an attempt to understand how surface contacts affect friction, and to bridge the gap between single contact and large scale friction studies, silicon and PDMS multi-tip arrays were produced in the McGill Microfabrication Facility. An apparatus was constructed to rub the tip arrays on a glass surface while creating a diffraction pattern using scattered laser light. Changes in tip ordering could be correlated to changes in the diffraction pattern. Values for tip-to-tip separation were extracted from the diffraction pattern and it was found that the PDMS tip array compressed by 10% after sliding. / Simulations of an AFM tip rubbing along an ionic surface were also performed. Experimentally observed stick-slip behavior was reproduced in the simulation, and simulated contact stiffness values corresponded to experimental results. By varying the flexibility of the tip and the surface it was determined that tip compliance is the dominant factor that controls stick-slip behavior.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.100792 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | David, Jonathan, 1980- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Physics.) |
| Rights | © Jonathan David, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002590329, proquestno: AAIMR32688, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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