Lift induced by slip inhomogeneities in lubricated contacts

Aidan Rinehart (1) , Uǧis Lācis (1) , Thomas Salez (2) , Shervin Bagheri (1)

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering [Stockholm]
2 LOMA - Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine

Lubrication forces depend to a high degree on elasticity, texture, charge, chemistry, and temperature of the interacting surfaces. Therefore, by appropriately designing surface properties, we may tailor lubrication forces to reduce friction, adhesion and wear between sliding surfaces or control assembly, repulsion, and collision of interacting particles. Here, we show that variations of slippage on one of the contacting surfaces induce a normal (lift) force. We demonstrate the consequences of this force on the mobility of a cylinder traveling near a wall and show the emergence of active-like particle trajectories, such as oscillation, migration, and propulsion. Our study has implications for understanding how inhomogeneous biological interfaces interact with their environment; it also reveals a new method of patterning surfaces for controlling the motion of nearby particles.

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Dynamique des Fluides [physics.flu-dyn]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Aidan Rinehart, Uǧis Lācis, Thomas Salez, Shervin Bagheri. Lift induced by slip inhomogeneities in lubricated contacts. 2019. ⟨hal-02388468v1⟩