IMX/IPHYS Talks - Surface and Interface by Design: A Path to Tunable Friction and Wear

Friction and wear have long been recognized not as intrinsic material properties, but as complex, system-level phenomena governed by a multitude of interacting parameters. This seminar presents strategies for engineering tribological behavior through deliberate surface and interface design. The first part focuses on recent advances in the contact mechanics of shell structures, highlighting how the interplay among friction, adhesion, and structural instability can be harnessed to modulate surface roughness and contact behavior—enabling unconventional and tunable tribological responses. The second part introduces a novel multilayer coating architecture. By precisely engineering interfaces and controlling their spatial distribution, the wear resistance is enhanced through a transition from strength-driven to failure-resistant mechanisms. An optimal layering morphology is identified, offering new insights into the development of robust and functional coating systems. Together, these studies demonstrate how thoughtful design of surfaces and interfaces at small scales enables macroscopic control over friction and wear, providing a pathway toward more reliable and high-performance materials.

Bio: Ramin Aghababaei is an Associate Professor and Head of the Mechanics and Materials Section in the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at Aarhus University. He is the principal investigator of the Surface Mechanics and Tribology Group, which aims at integrating fundamental principles of mechanics and materials engineering to design materials and surfaces with improved tribological performance across multiple length scales. Dr. Aghababaei earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore in 2012. He then conducted postdoctoral research at EPFL from 2013 to 2017, before joining Aarhus University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. He currently serves on the Youth Editorial Board of the Springer journal Friction.