Micro and Nano-structure Development and Multiscale Physics at Sliding Metal Interfaces

This final report describes research on the response of ductile materials to extreme loading conditions and high strain rates during impact combined with sliding friction. The work has involved a collaboration among two groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a tribology research grouup at The Ohio State University. The project involved experimental work and computer simulations at both laboratories and continuum mechanics analysis at OSU, supplemented by testing at AWE, Harwell, UK. Results demonstrated the importance of vorticity and mechanical mixing near the sliding interface in the development of nanocrystalline tribomaterial that is far from equilibrium. The work also revealed that strain rate sensitivity is an important materials property for determining the development of the velocity profile during sliding. As such, it is a property that is key to understanding the evolution of sliding behavior