2007 Volume 1 Issue 5 Pages 640-648
A novel experimental method has been developed to quantify the breakdown processes of thin oil films induced by quasi-static loading. The method uses a steel-oil-mercury system along with complex impedance analysis, which provides the simultaneous measurement of the film thickness and breakdown ratio. In the case of hexadecane, the relationship between thickness and the breakdown ratio is represented by a single master curve independently of the indentation speed. Every breakdown process of hexadecane traces on the same master curve, and its final point is determined by the indentation load. The breakdown process of hexadecane includes two stages: one is the decrement of the film thickness without breakdown, and the other is the decrement of the film thickness with the drastic progress of breakdown.
