Confined Lubricant Layering — Nanotribology Squeeze-Film Simulator

Squeeze a nanometre-thin liquid film trapped between two atomically smooth plates and watch it order itself into discrete molecular layers — the same layering a Surface Forces Apparatus measures as an oscillating force curve. Drag the gap slider down and the film snaps through mechanically unstable regions, expelling one whole layer at a time; drag the molecule-diameter slider to see how a bigger or smaller lubricant species changes the layer spacing and how many layers fit at a given gap. Turn on shearing and the simulator switches between two real friction regimes: a low-friction liquid-like film that flows smoothly while several layers remain, and a sharply higher-friction boundary-lubrication regime once the film thins to one or two molecular layers — the mechanism behind stiction and wear in MEMS hinges, disk-drive head/slider gaps and rubbing biomedical implants.