The frictional behavior of materials under vertical vibration

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate experimentally the effect of external vertical vibration on the friction property of mild steel, glass fiber‐reinforced plastic and cloth‐reinforced ebonite.Design/methodology/approachA pin‐on‐disc apparatus having the facility of vibrating the test samples in a vertical direction was designed and fabricated. The experimental setup has the facility to vary the amplitudes and frequencies of vibration, while the velocity of vibration is kept constant. During the experiment, the frequency and amplitude of vibration were varied from 0 to 500 Hz and 0 to 200 μm, respectively. Studies have shown that the friction coefficient decreases with the increase of amplitude and frequency of vertical vibration for the above‐said materials. The rate of decrease of friction coefficient is different for different materials. The results of these materials are analyzed by dimensional analysis to correlate the friction coefficient with sliding velocity, frequency and amplitude of vibration. The experimental results are also compared with those available in the literature and simple physical explanations are provided.FindingsIt was found that reducing the friction coefficient of different materials was achieved by way of reducing the friction force by applying known frequency and vibration and correlating the friction coefficient with frequency, amplitude and sliding velocity.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a way of reducing friction force by applying known frequency and vibration so that the mechanical process can be considerably improved (by considering the appropriate design of vibration).Originality/valueThe paper's originality lies in demonstrating the correlation among friction coefficient, amplitude, frequency and sliding velocity for different types of materials.