ADHESIVE WEAR: GENERALIZED RABINOWICZ' CRITERIA

In a recent paper in Nature Communications, Aghababaei, Warner and Molinari [5] used quasi-molecular simulations to confirm the criterion for formation of debris, proposed in 1958 by Rabinowicz [4]. The work of Aghababaei, Warner and Molinari improves our understanding of adhesive wear but at the same time puts many new questions. The present paper is devoted to the discussion of possible generalizations of the Rabinowicz-Molinari criterion and its application to a variety of systems differing by the interactions in the interface and by the material properties (elastic and elastoplastic) and structure (homogeneous and layered systems). A generalization of the Rabinowicz-Molinari criterion for systems with arbitrary complex contact configuration is suggested which does not use the notion of asperity.