Solidification of the Lennard-Jones fluid near a wall in thermohydrodynamic lubrication.

We investigate the thermohydrodynamic lubrication of the Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid in plain wall channels by using a molecular-dynamics simulation. It is found that the LJ fluid solidifies near the wall when the viscous heating of the LJ fluid in the bulk regime is sufficiently large. The thickness of the solidified layer increases with the channel width. Thus, a long-range-ordered crystal-like structure forms near the wall in high-speed lubrication when the channel width is large. The mechanism of this counterintuitive solidification is investigated from both macroscopic and microscopic points of view. It is elucidated that the LJ molecules are densely confined in the vicinity of the wall due to the macroscopic mass and heat transport in the bulk regime. In this densely confined regime, the fluid molecules form a crystal-like structure, which is similar to that of the wall molecules, via direct molecular interaction. Band formation is also observed in the solidified region when the channel width is sufficiently large.