Friction, order, and transverse pinning of a two-dimensional elastic lattice under periodic and impurity potentials

Abstract

Frictional phenomena of two-dimensional elastic lattices are studied numerically based on a two-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova model with impurities. It is shown that impurities can assist the depinning. We also investigate anisotropic ordering and transverse pinning effects of sliding lattices, which are characteristic of the moving Bragg glass state and/or transverse glass state. Peculiar velocity dependence of the transverse pinning is observed in the presence of both periodic and random potentials and discussed in the relation with growing order and discommensurate structures.