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Applications relying on a high static friction include various types of fixtures, couplings, bolted joints, torsion joints, etc. The common characteristic of these applications is that they rely on the friction force to maintain the relative position of two mating surfaces. Also applications relying on high dynamic friction are common, the main example being brakes, where a low friction could be devastating.

The plateau model for the friction of brakes has been refined. By using advanced electron microscopy, it has been shown that during braking a partly amorphous friction film, comprising nanosized iron oxide agglomerates, dissipates the friction energy. The film is only about 100 nm thick. It is separated from the underlying less mobile material by a thin boundary. The actual braking power is thus localised to this very thin film, leading to remarkably high power densities. In a typical case it was estimated to 40 GW/dm3.

Squeal and vibrations are critical problems for brakes. The present work has shown that a textured disc pattern may counteract squeal efficiently. The most successful pattern has spiral shaped arms in which wear resistant ceramic particles are embedded. The different wear characteristics of treated and untreated disc surface lead to an elevation of the patterned area above the rest of the disc. In a related experiment, laser technique was used to inject the particles deeper into the disc surface, and thus prolonging the time of silence.

Textured diamond surfaces have been used to study the influence of load, repeated scratching and surface roughness on the static coefficient of friction. It was shown that these surfaces were remarkably stable at high friction levels. A maximum load limit was found above which the coefficient of friction falls. This and a number of other factors were found important for the successful design of high-friction joints.