Effect of inertia and elasticity on stick-slip motion

B. Luan and M. O. Robbins, Phys Rev Lett, 93, 036105 (2004).

A hybrid simulation method is used to study the transition from stick-slip motion to steady sliding as the sliding velocity increases above a critical value v(c). The effects of the geometry, elasticity, and mass M of the sliding object are varied to test competing theories. When the slider has a tapered geometry, v(c) scales as M-1/2, and the elasticity of the slider is irrelevant. When the slider has a constant columnar cross section, elasticity dominates, and v(c) is independent of mass as M-->infinity. The tapered geometry is more typical of existing measurements, but the columnar geometry could be realized using a nanotube.

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