Onset of frictional sliding of rubber–glass contact under dry and lubricated conditions

Abstract

Rubber friction is critical in many applications ranging from automotive tyres to cylinder seals. The process where a static rubber sample transitions to frictional sliding is particularly poorly understood. The experimental and simulation results in this paper show a completely different detachment process from the static situation to sliding motion under dry and lubricated conditions. The results underline the contribution of the rubber bulk properties to the static friction force. In fact, simple Amontons’ law is sufficient as a local friction law to produce the correct detachment pattern when the rubber material and loading conditions are modelled properly. Simulations show that micro-sliding due to vertical loading can release initial shear stresses and lead to a high static/dynamic friction coefficient ratio, as observed in the measurements.

An Evaluation of Shoe Tread Parameters using FEM

“…This same lifting at the rear of sliding rubber tread elements has been recorded in other FEM studies [12,21] and experiments alike [20][21][22][23] as has the pressure concentration and deformation observed at the FE model's leading edge. Therefore, though discrepancies are present in the recorded contact areas during steady sliding, it is considered that the FE model sufficiently replicates the initial slip conditions of rubber along with the characteristic leading edge, lateral squeezing and lifting of the rear.…”

Modeling and simulation in tribology across scales: An overview

“…In several aspects, elastomers are good model materials with which to perform such comparisons. Due to their low elastic modulus, the amplitude of the interfacial displacements under tribological solicitations is typically large enough to be easily monitored optically, using contact imaging techniques (see e.g., [478,479] for tire rubber). In particular, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is increasingly used for in situ measurements of displacement fields (see e.g., [469,470,[480][481][482]).…”

Multiscale physics of rubber-ice friction

“…This might be potentially exploited in improving the rubber grip in rolling contact applications by shortening the sliding contact area. However, the transition from static sliding also depends on the process of detachment 33,35 and velocity strengthening of friction has also been observed for dry contacts. …”