Streator’s research is concerned with the interactions between contacting surfaces, with particular emphasis on the roles played by surface roughness and by intervening liquid films. Much of this research is motivated by problems of adhesion or “stiction” that is prevalent in small-scale devices such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and in the head-disk interface of computer disk drives. As device form factors continue to shrink the role of surface forces, such as liquid surface tension become increasingly dominant as compared to inertial forces. In this regard Streator has been interested in developing models that consider the interplay between liquid-drive capillary stresses and elastic restoring forces. This work has led to models of contact instabilities force generation predictions for both smooth and rough interfaces.
- College of Engineering
- Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering