Hysteresis phenomena at ultrathin lubricant film melting in the case of first-order phase transition

TL;DR

This paper investigates hysteresis phenomena during the melting of ultrathin lubricant films, modeling the process with a Lorentz framework to understand phase transition mechanisms and the influence of material properties.

Contribution

It introduces a Lorentz model to analyze hysteresis and phase transition modes in ultrathin lubricant films, highlighting the effects of shear modulus defects and relaxation times.

Findings

Identification of jump-like and continuous melting modes

Discovery of three lubricant behavior modes under different stress conditions

Hysteresis in stress-strain and temperature dependencies

Abstract

Within the framework of Lorentz model for description of viscoelastic medium the influence of deformational defect of the shear modulus is studied on melting of ultrathin lubricant film confined between the atomically flat solid surfaces. The possibility of jump-like and continuous melting is shown. Three modes of lubricant behavior are found, which correspond to the zero shear stress, the Hooke section of loading diagram, and the domain of plastic flow. Transition between these modes can take place according to mechanisms of first-order and second-order phase transitions. Hysteresis of dependences of stationary stresses on strain and friction surfaces temperature is described. Phase kinetics of the system is investigated. It is shown that ratio of the relaxation times for the studied quantities influences qualitatively on the character of the stationary mode setting.