Meeting Minutes

December 28, 2001

A meeting of the Northern Alaska ASME Group was held on December 28, 2001 in the Embassy Room of the Regency Hotel in Fairbanks, Alaska. The meeting was called to order at 12:30.

Meeting attendance consisted of 7 members and guests (see sign-in roster on file for details).

Meeting Business:

H. Ed Bargar announced that the Group Web site is on-line and may be visited at www.asme.org/sections/northernak/index.html.

The speaker for the meeting was Dr. Hong Liang of the University of Alaska Mechanical Engineering Department. Dr. Liang’s specific interests and research lie in the areas of materials science, surface engineering, and tribology. The topic she presented to the Group was “Lubricious Ice”.

Dr. Liang was fortunate to travel to a laboratory in France last summer and use some of their specialized equipment to research the frictional properties of ice at low temperatures.

Early studies of friction were conducted by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1470, Guillaume Amontons circa 1699, Charles Augustin Coulomb circa 1782, and Sir Isaac Newton circa 1668.

The study of ice and friction is important in everyday life as it effects quality of life and safety. Additional emphasis is arising as water becomes a possible lubricant for MEMS and nano devices.

Most of the research in the past has dealt with ice at near melting temperatures. In 1994, S. Jones measured the friction coefficient of aluminum on pure ice at melting temperatures to be 0.02 – 0.04. Even when the temperature is below the melting point, past research has shown that a localized, quasi-liquid layer of water forms at the frictional interface which lubricates the contact point(s).

Dr. Liang’s research utilized an analytical UHV tribometer to measure the friction coefficient for ice which was only a few molecular layers in thickness at temperatures below which the aforementioned quasi-liquid layer would be expected to form. Dr. Liang’s research shows that the coefficient of friction for ice tends to decrease as the temperature of the ice decreases. And that this is not effected by a lubricious layer of water, since that layer does not form at these temperatures.

All business being completed and the presentation finished, the meeting was brought to a close at 13:15.

Respectfully Submitted,

H. Ed Bargar, P.E.

Secretary, Northern Alaska ASME Group