I learned to respect friction, as a phenomenon with many nuances, when I was a graduate student. One day, while teaching a problem session in elementary mechanics, I unwisely invented a new problem to ...

This paper gives a review of mathematical results of existence and uniqueness of solutions to problems of linear elasticity involving friction. Static, steady sliding and quasi-static problems are ...

Most people have experienced the hair-raising effect of rubbing a balloon on their head or the subtle spark caused by dragging socked feet across the carpet. Although these experiences are common, a ...

Researchers have demonstrated how to entirely suppress static friction between two surfaces. This means that even a minuscule force suffices to set objects in motion. Especially in micromechanical ...

Say we consider a simple experiment of balancing a wooden rod on two fingers. The finger on the left, (1), will remain stationary, whereas the finger on the right, (2), will be moved toward the left.

Engineers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are developing a self-fixturing process that could enable ...

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Most people have experienced the hair-raising effect of rubbing a balloon on their head or the subtle spark caused by dragging socked feet across the carpet. Although these ...

Scientists developed a new model, which shows that rubbing two objects together produces static electricity, or triboelectricity, by bending the tiny protrusions on the surface of materials. Most ...