Layer-Resolved Frictional Mechanisms of Engineering Polymers: Contrasting Spatial Modes of Dissipation in Polyoxymethylene and Polytetrafluoroethylene
Tomohiro Kinjo, Aguru Yamamoto, Takeshi Aoyagi, Shunsuke Mieda, Hitoshi Washizu · 2026
Read Layer-Resolved Frictional Mechanisms of Engineering Polymers: Contrasting Spatial Modes of Dissipation in Polyoxymethylene and Polytetrafluoroethylene by Tomohiro Kinjo, Aguru Yamamoto, Takeshi Aoyagi, Shunsuke Mieda, Hitoshi Washizu (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13266704.txt.
Description
Tomohiro Kinjo and four co-authors use large atom-by-atom simulations to see where friction energy actually goes inside two common plastics. Polyoxymethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene slide very differently, but the molecular reasons were murky. Earlier studies often used extreme sliding speeds or skipped depth detail. After a short settling phase, both simulated slabs settled into steady sliding.
In the first plastic, rubbing spread deep: flow and molecular alignment reached several nanometers inward, and energy drained away through bond bending and twisting. In the second, action stayed near the surface, where weak attractions between molecules absorbed the work. That plastic also built a hot layer below the surface, offset from a deeper packed band. The authors argue that where shear work is absorbed is a design lever for friction materials.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Tomohiro Kinjo, Aguru Yamamoto, Takeshi Aoyagi, Shunsuke Mieda, Hitoshi Washizu |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 67 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |