The effect of surface energy on the microadhesion between hard solids

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Abstract
Tungsten or fused-quartz styli with tips of varying radius were brought into contact with an optically flat steel surface. Loads as light as 10−8 N or less were applied to the contact by using a microbalance with a sensitivity of 5 × 10−9 N. The force required to separate the contact was found to be proportional to the tip radius. By using the theory of Johnson et al, the interfacial surface energy was estimated to be (42±3) × 10−3 J m−2 for the contact between fused quartz and steel, and (130±7) × 10−3 J m−2 between tungsten and steel. The values seem to be consistent with the view that the attractive forces observed arise principally from the van der Waals interactions.

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