Adhesion between metal surfaces: The effect of surface roughness

Abstract Adhesion between metal surfaces and the effect of nanometre scale surface roughness were studied in ultrahigh vacuum. A significant adhesion force is detected after the applied load has exceeded a critical value. This value is identified with the load required to produce plastic deformation, using an expression for the effect of surface forces during plastic loading. A criterion for determining the mode of separation (brittle or ductile) is obtained by considering the influence of the microasperities. For ioncleaned Ti-Ti contacts, values of adhesion energy and microhardness are found to be 0.041 J m−2 and 0.91 GPa respectively.