This Letter focuses on the plastic response of a material, treated as a fluid, when subjected to sliding interactions. The analysis couples momentum conservation with material flow laws to predict velocity and strain-rate profiles that develop during sliding. The profiles depend on the strain-rate sensitivity. The spatial extent of the deformed zone is determined by strain-rate sensitivity, strength parameters, and the imposed sliding velocity.

• Received 21 April 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.106001