Effect of Sliding Speeds on the Friction and Wear of Pattern Abrasion of Rubber

Abstract

To investigate the effect of sliding speeds on the friction and wear of pattern abrasion of rubber, rubber wheel was rubbed against a plano-convex cylindrical lens at various sliding speeds from 1 to 1000mm/s. At low speeds less than 10mm/s the linear rate of wear and coefficient of friction increased with sliding speed. They were remained almost constant between sliding speeds of 10 and 100mm/s. Beyond sliding speeds of 100mm/s, the linear rate of wear decreased rapidly by a factor of 100. The same tendencies appeared with the coefficient of friction. At that time the rubber surface was covered with a sticky material.The variations in the spacing of patterns and the spacing of striations with the sliding speeds were also studied. The spacing of patterns and the spacing of striations increased with sliding speeds at low speeds less than 10mm/s. They were almost constant between sliding speeds of 10mm/s and 100mm/s. At sliding speeds higher than 100mm/s, the spacing of patterns rapidly decreased. At that time the striations were not observed since the sticky material covered the abraded rubber surface.The linear rate of wear, though discontinuous, was proportional to the third power of the pattern spacing at sliding speeds from 1 to 1000mm/s.