Distance upon contact: Determination from roughness profile
- Materials Innovation Institute M2i and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen (Netherlands)
- MESA Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede (Netherlands)
The point at which two random rough surfaces make contact takes place at the contact of the highest asperities. The distance upon contact d{sub 0} in the limit of zero load has crucial importance for determination of dispersive forces. Using gold films as an example we demonstrate that for two parallel plates d{sub 0} is a function of the nominal size of the contact area L and give a simple expression for d{sub 0}(L) via the surface roughness characteristics. In the case of a sphere of fixed radius R and a plate the scale dependence manifests itself as an additional uncertainty {delta}d(L) in the separation, where the scale L is related with the separation d via the effective area of interaction L{sup 2}{approx}{pi}Rd. This uncertainty depends on the roughness of interacting bodies and disappears in the limit L->{infinity}.
- OSTI ID:
- 21386518
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 80, Issue 23; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.235401; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1098-0121
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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