Introduction

Contact Mechanics and the Physics of Friction are fundamental disciplines of the engineering sciences, which are indispensable for the construction of safe and energy-saving designs. They are of interest for countless applications, for example clutches, brakes, tires, bush and ball bearings, combustion engines, hinges, gaskets, castings, machining, cold forming, ultrasonic welding, electrical contacts, and many others. These applications have tasks spanning from stress analysis of contact elements and joints, over the influence of lubrication and material design on friction and wear, to applications in micro and nanotechnology. Friction is a phenomenon that people have been interested in for over hundreds and even thousands of years and still today remains in the middle of the development of new products and technologies.