It is widely believed that friction between materials could induce local melting. However, the criterion for identifying the occurrence of melting for a friction process is an unresolved issue. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the friction induced melting process. A criterion for identifying liquid phase formation was established based on analysis of friction induced temperature rise and structural order destruction. Specifically, the formation of the liquid phase can only occur when both structural disorder and atomic kinetic energy conditions are satisfied. Under specific friction conditions, the contact region undergoes short-time local melting and exhibits a high local liquid nucleation rate. It is suggested that friction induced melting is a rapid heterogeneous process, which significantly differs from that induced solely by heating. Friction not only generates localized superheating in the contact region, but also causes destruction of structural order, thereby reducing the nucleation barriers for the formation of the liquid phase.

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• First order phase transitions
• Structural order parameter
• Transition metals
• Molecular dynamics