© Copyright 1996 American Chemical Society
SEPTEMBER 18, 1996 VOLUME 12, NUMBER 19
Foreword Proceedings of a Workshop on the Physical and Chemical Mechanisms of Tribology August 28-September 1, 1995 Bar Harbor, Maine Recent progress in both theoretical and experimental studies of tribological processes promises major advances toward understanding the role of atomic and molecular scale interactions. The Workshop on Physical and Chemical Mechanisms in Tribology was organized to evaluate the current status of this research and to explore the most promising directions for future work. In order to maintain focus, the workshop examined only three key issues: single asperities, experiment, molecular dynamics, and continuum mechanics; rheology of highly confined molecules; analytical methods for in situ studies. Other important issues, such as wear, were left for future meetings. This proceedings differs from others in that each invited speaker and session chair was asked to contribute a scientific essay rather than a more typical technical review. In their essays, the invited speakers were asked to outline the importance of their research for the field of tribology, give a critical evaluation of its current status, discuss major obstacles limiting progress, and speculate on future developments related to tribology. The session chairs were asked to make evaluations, from their personal scientific perspectives, of the material presented in their sessions. The workshop concluded with a forum to discuss issues raised during the week. It was coordinated by R. J. Colton of the Naval Research Laboratory, whose essay serves as a summary of the entire workshop. The essays presented here are thus the personal opinions of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the workshop organizers, the agencies that provided financial support, or the editors of Langmuir. There were also two poster sessions at which other attendees presented their research. Five of these are included as contributions to the proceedings and have undergone the standard Langmuir review process. The workshop was held at Atlantic Oakes Resort, Bar Harbor, Maine, during the week of August 28, 1995. There were 65 participants from nine countries. Finally, we acknowledge financial support for the workshop from the Office of Naval Research, the Department of Energy, the University of Maine, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation, and Tribology Letters.
William N. Unertl University of Maine Michael Grunze University of Heidelberg LA950907O
S0743-7463(95)00907-3 CCC: $12.00
© 1996 American Chemical Society
