First-Principles Investigation of the Shear Properties and Sliding Characteristics of c-ZrO2(001)/α-Al2O3(
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1- The references are not new. I highly suggest to add more recent references.
2- The discussion is poor. More details should be added.
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
Thank you for your decision and constructive comments on my manuscript. We have carefully considered the suggestion of you and make some changes. We have tried our best to improve and made some changes in the manuscript.
Once again, we thank you for the time you put in reviewing our paper and look forward to meeting your expectations. Since your inputs have been precious, in the eventuality of a publication, we would like to acknowledge your contribution explicitly.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper can be published after a minor revision.
Write keywords in alphabetical order.
Give more details about "the convergence criterion".
Explain deeper the advantages and applicability of the proposed prediction models.
Explain the limits of this study.
Even though the work is relevant to the journal's scope, i.e., Applied Sciences, I do not find even a single article published in the journal in the list of references. Could you insert some references from Applied Sciences?
The literature study must be enriched. For instance, authors must refer to the relevant papers: (a) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2020.125566
(b) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.154763
This paper presents an interesting approach and deserved to be published after the mentioned revisions.
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
Thank you for your decision and constructive comments on my manuscript. We have carefully considered the suggestion of Reviewer and make some changes. We have tried our best to improve and made some changes in the manuscript.
Once again, we thank you for the time you put in reviewing our paper and look forward to meeting your expectations. Since your inputs have been precious, in the eventuality of a publication, we would like to acknowledge your contribution explicitly.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The paper illustrates first-principles illustration of the shear properties and sliding characteristics of c-ZrO2(001)/α - AL2O3(1102) interfaces. The study is mainly numerical with three models, among which the O- model exhibited the strongest shear resistance, whereas the Zr- model was more prone to slipping. The paper is presented in a concise and scientific way, although a few corrections are needed for the sake of the readers. The technical corrections include:
1. The authors have used the first-principles method. However, the governing equations and the method itself have not been detailed properly. It is important to detail the mathematical foundation for readers to understand, and for the manuscript to be comprehensive and independent in itself.
2. The Conclusion section needs to be shortened and should be to the point. anything that is not part of the conclusion can be moved inside the Discussions section.
3. Figure 1 image quality is not great, the authors are requested to replace it with a better quality image.
English-specific comments: The language is in general very flowing with negligible grammatical errors. However, there are a couple of comments, which are:
1. Page 3 uses first person, please change it to third person and be consistent throughout the manuscript.
2. Page 7 has unnecessary repetition of the word "bond". Please make sure you use plural "bonds" and club the respective aspects together. An example is, it should be "Zr1-O3 and Al1-O2 bonds" instead of "Zr1-O3 bond and Al1-O2 bond". Please make sure it is consistent.
The paper in general is good but the corrections should be made before it is accepted. I suggest reconsidering after major revision.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear reviewer:
Thank you for your meticulous work and constructive comments on my manuscript. We have carefully considered your suggestion and make some changes. We have tried our best to improve and made some changes in the manuscript.
Once again, we thank you for the time you put in reviewing our paper and look forward to meeting your expectations. Since your inputs have been precious, in the eventuality of a publication, we would like to acknowledge your contribution explicitly.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have responded to most of the comments positively. However, I still have 1 minor comment.
1. The authors should add a little about the governing equations for immature readers who can relate and understand the content better, and grasp the first-principles method to some extent. This can be their starting point or pivotal point for studying in-depth the aspects of the first-principles method.
The remaining things are satisfactory in the revised manuscript.
