Multiscale simulations: application to the heat transfer simulation of sliding solids

Molecular dynamics is a powerful tool allowing the simulation of matter behaviour at the atomic scale. Due to computation time, it is clearly not possible to use molecular dynamics to simulate a forming process. However, atomistic simulations can be used to study and understand the physical phenomena that occur during matter deformation. As an example, heat transfer between the contacting solids in forming processes is one of the important physics phenomena that have to be taken into account in order to do realistic simulations. A multiscale analysis of heat transfer is presented. This analysis leads to two kinds of models: a macroscopic model which can be used for the simulation of the process itself and a microscopic model that is used to determine the parameters of the macroscopic model. In this microscopic model, the friction heat generation phenomena has to be described quite accurately. Friction heat is mainly due to plastic and elastic deformation and adhesion. Thus, to understand the underlying friction heat generation phenomena, atomistic simulations using molecular dynamics are carried out. It is shown that friction heat is the transformation of mechanical work given to the system at the macroscopic scale into potential energy during elastic deformation. This potential energy which is stored in the system is finally transformed into atomic kinetic energy (friction heat) during plastic transformation.