A simple model for friction detachment at an interface of finite size mimicking Fineberg’s experiments on uneven loading

This work presents a model and simulation results for the friction detachment of a finite sized interface, following previous results on the phenomenon by Ben-David and Fineberg, namely “experiments demonstrating that the ratio of shear to normal force needed to move contacting bodies can, instead, vary systematically with controllable changes in the external loading configuration” In particular, we extend a previous one-dimensional simulation model by Bar-Sinai with colleagues to a quasi 2D model to allow for a tilting of one of the contacting blocks While Bar-Sinai with colleagues postulate that the presence of “slow fronts” of detachment (an order of magnitude lower than the usual Rayleigh fronts as in crack propagation) is due to a strengthening term in the friction law, which is not always measured in unlubricated contacts, we find slow fronts also with a purely weakening law