Séminaire Liquides/Mat. molle

Mardi 9 Janvier 2018 à 11h00.

Solid friction: how the onset of sliding is governed by fracture mechanics.

''What happens at the interface between two solid bodies in contact when they start sliding? This problem has important implications to various fields such as engineering, where the challenge is to control friction, or earthquake dynamics, where prediction of earthquakes occurrence and magnitude is crucial.
A frictional interface is composed of an ensemble of discrete contacts that resist to shear. Sliding motion is mediated by the propagation of an interfacial rupture, breaking the micro-contacts, as revealed by measurements of the real contact area and stress fields near the interface. In this talk, we will show that these ruptures are true shear crack as they propagate and as they stop. The fracture mechanics framework is then used to probe the interfacial properties under dry and lubricated conditions and to understand the rupture dynamics of heterogeneous interfaces. The impact of these results on earthquakes dynamics will be discussed.''