Sliding and dry friction: Prandtl-Tomlinson athermal model revisited

TL;DR

This paper revisits the Prandtl-Tomlinson model at zero temperature, analyzing the force-velocity relation across a broad velocity range to resolve previous contradictory findings and deepen understanding of microscopic friction mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the force-velocity relation in the Prandtl-Tomlinson model at zero temperature, addressing prior inconsistencies and offering new insights into friction laws.

Findings

Clarified the force-velocity relation over a wide velocity range

Resolved contradictions in previous studies of the model

Enhanced understanding of microscopic friction mechanisms

Abstract

The microscopic origin of friction has been the goal of several theoretical studies in the last decades. Depending on the investigated systems or models, on the simulation techniques or conditions, different and somewhat contradictory results have been found, even when using the same model. In this contribution, we address this apparent paradox in a well-known case, the Prandtl-Tomlinson model at zero temperature, studying the force-velocity relation for a wide range of velocities not previously presented. Including much more data density for the non trivial regions, we are able to shed light on this problem and at the same time, provide new insight in the use of the paradigmatic Tomlinson model for the secular problem of friction laws.