Role of nanoscopic liquid bridges in static friction

Interpretations of recent experiments on the effects of humidity on friction hypothesize that liquid-water bridges can span nanoscopic gaps at the interface between the sliding surfaces. By means of a lattice-gas model the mechanisms by which such bridges may engender static friction at a single ideal nanoscopic contact were studied. The model contact consists of a simple (spherically symmetric) fluid constrained between two plane-parallel substrates decorated with weakly and strongly attractive stripes that alternate periodically in one transverse direction. In analogy with the experiments the shear yield stress (yield strength) tau (s) of the contact was computed as a function of the chemical potential mu of the fluid (the analog of humidity). The influence of other thermodynamic state variables, such as temperature and distance between the substrates, and of the relative strength of the stripes on the yield-strength curves (i.e., tau (s) versus mu) was explored. Some intriguing correlations between experiment and theory are observed.