Abstract
The friction in tribo-systems that contain viscoelastic materials, such as elastomers, is relevant for a large number of applications. Examples include tyres, hoses, transmission and conveyor belts. To quantify the friction in these applications, one must first understand the contact behaviour of such viscoelastic materials, both in static and in dynamic situations. This work discusses an experimental study into the change of the contact area with the sliding velocity and relates the change in contact area with the mechanical properties of the elastomer. The results show that for a tribo-system containing an elastomer, there is a threshold velocity, above which the size of the contact area significantly reduces.
Highlights
It is well known that for purely elastic materials, the contact area and shape during sliding remain constant and are independent of the sliding velocity.[1]
To their observations that the waves of detachment appear only under certain conditions, they showed that the contact area between the elastomer and the rigid indenter changed, both in shape and in size with a varying sliding velocity in all the studied cases
Ludema and Tabor[3] suggested that the contact area depends on the sliding velocity in a similar way as the material properties of an elastomer depend on the frequency of deformation
Summary
It is well known that for purely elastic materials, the contact area and shape during sliding remain constant and are independent of the sliding velocity.[1]. Fukahori et al.[7] studied waves of detachment appearing in the contact area while a rigid indenter slides over an elastomer To their observations that the waves of detachment appear only under certain conditions, they showed that the contact area between the elastomer and the rigid indenter changed, both in shape and in size with a varying sliding velocity in all the studied cases. Despite that the changes in the shape and size of the contact area between an elastomer and a sliding rigid indenter are known, currently there is no general relation that allows predicting or calculating the contact area as a function of material properties and operational conditions, such as load and velocity. The effect of sliding velocity on the size of the contact area is studied and a relationship between the dynamic contact area over static contact area as a function of the sliding velocity is given
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