Dry friction: modeling and energy flow

A model of dry, wearless friction between two atomistically flat, two-dimensional workpieces is introduced. This isotropic elastic model allows us to study the flow of energy away from the sliding interface during the frictional process. Although a direct quantitative comparison of the model with molecular dynamics data is not possible, qualitative comparisons indicate that much of the early-time nonplastic behavior of molecular dynamics data can be described by a simple elastic model. Also our results support previous speculation that it is appropriate to introduce viscous damping effects when formulating lower-dimensional models of such physical processes.