Published on February 5, 2026–Updated on February 5, 2026
Dates
on the February 10, 2026
Café : 15h
Séminaire: 15h15
Location
Salle des séminaires
Slippery, sticky, and scratchy: a taste of tribology
Seminars of the Institut de Physique de Nice,
Abstract:
TIn this seminar, I will introduce myself and share some of my recent adventures into tribology — the science of surfaces in contact. Tribology traditionally lives at the intersection of mechanical engineering and materials science, but it also hides a surprising amount of beautiful and often unexpected physics. I will try to convince you of this by presenting a few problems where everyday phenomena meet soft matter, fluid mechanics, and contact mechanics.
After a short and informal introduction to what tribology is, I will present some of my recent research through three questions:
(i) What set the onset of aquaplaning? (also known as the mixed lubrication regime, in slightly less poetic tribology jargon).
(ii) How do chameleons catch their prey? (a.k.a. elastohydrodynamic adhesion)
(iii) What is the physics behind drawing with a graphite pencil? (or wear of brittle solids)
