Friction, wetting, mechanics, and related matters

Viruses do not maintain homeostasis and depend on the environment. They prefer aqueous environments because the information life-cycle of a virus is dominated by entropic hydrophobic forces that are needed for self-assembly. This makes viruses similar to macroscale objects, such… Read More

We have submitted two presentations for the 7th World Tribology Congress 2021: Md Syam Hasan, Amir Kordijazi, Pradeep K. Rohatgi, and Michael Nosonovsky, “Tribological behavior prediction of Al/Gr composites under dry condition using machine learning methods” Md Syam Hasan, Amir… Read More

Call for papers for Special Issue of Surface Topography – Metrology and Properties (IOP journal) “Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Applied to Surface Topography and Pattern Recognition” Call for papers Guest Editors: Dr Sasan Mahmoodi ECS, University of Southampton, UK Professor… Read More

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433) “Levitating Droplet Clusters in Aerosol Science”. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/droplet_clusters   Special Issue Editors Prof. Dr. Alexander A. Fedorets Website Guest Editor Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO), Tyumen State University, 625003 Tyumen, Russian Federation Interests: droplet… Read More

Prof. M. Nosonovsky was selected for the 2020 Office of Research/UWM Foundation Research Awards. Please read an article about that at the College of Engineering and Applied Science website: “In June, Michael Nosonovsky, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at… Read More

New review paper: Nosonovsky, M.; Roy, P. Scaling in Colloidal and Biological Networks. Entropy 2020, 22, 622. https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/22/6/622 First, we consider networks arising from granular and colloidal systems (small colloidal and droplet clusters) due to pairwise interaction between the particles…. Read More

The most common example of a successful application of biomimetics in surface science is the Lotus Effect for water-repellency and self-cleaning. Among natural leaves, the lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaf exhibits extreme water repellence and hydrophobic behavior. When a water droplet… Read More

My article in Russian, “Clifford Truesdell and P. A. Zhilin: on the Leningrad School of the Rational Mechanics” deals with ideas of one of my teachers, Prof. Pavel Zhilin (1942–2005), who being an accomplished Mechanical Engineer with expertise in both… Read More

During the 14th century, tower clocks became a common element of urban life in Europe. The “cerchi in tempra d’orïuoli” (“wheels in the movements of a clock”) and “orologio che ne chiami ne l’ora” (“a clock that calls us at… Read More

For many years, I have been thinking about a mystery, related to dry friction. Friction is ubiquitous, and it is a universal phenomenon; however, the law of friction is not deduced from any general principles of physics. By “the law… Read More

Research by Prof. Nosonovsky, along with his former graduate students, Dr. Vahid Mortazavi and Mr. Rob. Morien, and co-workers, Profs. Pradeep Menezes and Pradeep Rohatgi, is featured in an article by Mary Beckman in the magazine “Tribology and Lubrication Technology”… Read More

I happened to visit Zürich a couple of weeks ago, and it was tempting to see places, where Albert Einstein lived. Einstein lived in Zürich three times. First, when he was a Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) student in 1896-1900, second,… Read More

Condensed microdroplets play a prominent role in living nature participating in various phenomena, from water harvesting by plants and insects to microorganism migration in bioaerosols. Microdroplets may also form regular self-organized patterns, such as the hexagonally ordered “breath figures” on… Read More

Tungsten disulfide (WS2) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2) are used as solid lubricants. Embedding them as nanoparticles into a polymer matrix (A–OOO polyimide) can synthesize a composite material with self-lubricating properties. This paper is another result of collaboration with Russian colleagues… Read More

Solving friction problems could save U.S. millions of dollars March 27, 2019News Saving millions of dollars in energy costs. Preventing blood clots. Extending the life of concrete. These are some of the potential applications of Michael Nosonovsky’s research into friction and wetting…. Read More

Dr. Nosonovsky has delivered his invited lecture “From static to Dynamic Nanofriction” at the 5th International Nanotechnology Conference Nano2018 in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, on November 19, 2018. Photos from medieval Mtskheta near Tbilisi: The medieval castle and archaeological site… Read More

The concept of entropy can be successfully applied to various surface phenomena ranging from friction to capillarity to self-assembly of colloidal crystals and microdroplet clusters. Friction and surface degradation are dissipative processes and the growth of entropy is an immanent… Read More