Experiments on friction of dry and wet ice

Abstract

Experiments on ice-on-ice friction both with and without water on the ice surface are presented. The experiments were conducted at −9.4 °C on dry ice and at −2.8 °C on both wet and dry ice. The sliding speed was varied between 6 and 105 mm/s. The effect of abrasion of ice surfaces was found to be an important phenomenon regarding the friction coefficient. Related to abrasion, the friction coefficient increased significantly in repetitive experiments especially at warm temperature. Adding water on the ice surface had only a minor effect on the friction coefficient at sliding speed above 10 mm/s. However, at lower speeds, the friction coefficient on wet ice was significantly higher than on dry ice.