Publications (28)
The breakdown of superlubricity by driving-induced commensurate dislocations
Andrea Benassi, Ming Ma, Michael Urbakh +1
In the framework of a Frenkel-Kontorova-like model, we address the robustness of the superlubricity phenomenon in an edge-driven system at large scales, highlighting the dynamical…
Role of vacuum fluctuation forces in thin metal film stability
Andrea Benassi, Carlo Calandra
Thin metal films are subject to the pressure caused by the zero point oscillations of the electromagnetic field, which depends upon the film optical properties and, in case of depo…
Microscale Motion Control Through Ferromagnetic Films
Andrea Benassi, Johannes Schwenk, Miguel A. Marioni +2
Actuation and control of motion in micro-mechanical systems are technological challenges, since they are accompanied by mechanical friction and wear, principal and well known sourc…
A shear cell study on oral and inhalation grade lactose powders
Giulio Cavalli, Roberto Bosi, Alessandro Ghiretti +3
Shear cell tests have been conducted on twenty different lactose powders, most of which commercially available for oral or inhalation purposes, spanning a wide range of particle si…
Graphene nanoribbons on gold: Understanding superlubricity and edge effects
Lorenzo Gigli, Nicola Manini, Andrea Benassi +3
We address the atomistic nature of the longitudinal static friction against sliding of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) deposited on gold, a system whose structural and mechanical prope…
Role of surface states in the Casimir force between semiconducting films
Marco Govoni, Carlo Calandra, Andrea Benassi
We present results of first principle calculations of the Casimir force between Si films of nanometric size, which show that it depends significantly upon the configuration of the…