Inverted stick-slip friction: What is the mechanism?

A mechanism is proposed for an observed inverted stick-slip motion and a relationship between the macroscopic mechanical response and the dynamics of the embedded system in this regime is established. It is shown that the requirement for the occurrence of inverted stick-slip is the existence of two sliding regimes in the system. The inverted stick-slip stems from a bifurcation from one sliding regime to another. The mechanism suggests that the inverted stick-slip behavior reflects a transition of the embedded system from nonslip to slip boundary conditions. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.