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Friction Theories
Friction is the resistance to relative motion, which is experienced whenever one solid body slides over another. The resistive force, which is parallel to the direction of motion,
is called the friction force. If the solid bodies are loaded together and a tangential force is applied, then the value of the tangential force, which is required to initiate sliding, is
the static friction force. The tangential force required to maintain sliding is the kinetic friction force. Kinetic friction is generally lower than static friction.
The Laws of Friction:
First law states that the friction is independent of the apparent area of contact between the contacting bodies.
Second law states that the friction force is proportional to the normal load between the contacting bodies.
Third law states that the kinetic friction is nearly independent of the speed of sliding.
First two laws are often referred to as Amontons laws and Coulomb introduced third law.
Coefficient of Friction:
The second law states that the friction force F is proportional to the normal load W.
i.e., F W
Therefore F = m W
Where m is a constant known as the coefficient of friction and is a constant only for a given pair of sliding materials under a given set of ambient conditions and varies for
different materials and conditions
We know that nearly all surfaces are rough on a microscopic scale and real contact is obtained over a small fraction of the apparent contact area. Thus the real area of contact is
independent of the apparent area of contact so the first law of friction is explained that friction is related to the real area of contact and independent of the apparent area of
contact.
Friction Measuring Devices:
Any apparatus for measuring friction must be capable of supplying relative motion between two specimens, of applying a measurable normal load and of measuring the tangential
resistance to motion. Commonly used devices are pin on cylinder or disk and disc on disc. In these cases, one specimen, usually a disc or a cylinder is driven continuously
while a second specimen nominally stationary, is loaded against it.
is the yield pressure of the metal and W is the normal load.
When the metals are in contact, cold welding takes place due to adhesion. So a force S per unit area of contact necessary to shear the junction
F = A.S + P
e
Where P
e
is the force required to plough hard asperities through a softer surface. For most situations involving unlubricated metals P
e
is small compared to AS and
may be neglected.
Therefore, F = AS
F = (W/ P
o
) . S
F/W = S/ P
o
Therefore m = F/W = S/ P
o
Thus this theory explains two laws of friction
The friction is independent of the apparent area of contact and
Friction force is proportional to the load
For most metals
S= P
o
/
5
So adhesion theory predicts that m = 0.2, when the material pairs are similar. It should be true for any combination of same material. But it is not true usually because of
junction growth and work hardening.
The above theory is true for static contacts. But when tangential force is applied, yielding takes place as a result of the combined normal and shear stresses. So Bowder and
Tabor re-examine some of the assumptions and present a modified description of friction as
A
2
= (W/P
o
)
2
+ a (F/P
o
)
2
Where the W/P
o
is the area of contact derived from the above theory in which only the effect of normal load is considered and the additional term a (F/P
o
)
2
represents the
increase caused by the shear or friction force.
High values of friction are obtained for metal under high vacuum condition, where adhesion is unimpeded by oxide film or other contaminants, indicates larger real contact
area.