1. Tribological context

1.1 Historical background

Friction is completely integrated into our everyday behavior through simple gestures such as holding a pencil, walking, etc. From a more pragmatic point of view, it is also at the heart of many industrial issues (mechanism service life [36] [80] [113], various forms of wear [12] [13], brake squeal [78], noise reduction [110]...) and economic issues (cost on the order of 2.5% of France's GDP, energy expenditure, heating...). For all these reasons, man has been trying to minimize or maximize friction to suit his needs since historic times (see the tribologists on Egyptian frescoes).

It was during the Renaissance, with the work of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), followed by that of Guillaume Amontons (1663-1705) and Charles de Coulomb...