Modeling of friction at different scale levels

We construct a model for studying the common influence of the imperfect elasticity of actual bodies, the microgeometry of their surfaces, and their adhesive interaction on the contact characteristics (the contact pressure distribution, the region of actual contact) and on the sliding friction force. The model is based on the solution of a plane contact problem of sliding of a rigid body with a regular relief on the boundary of a viscoelastic foundation with surface molecular attraction in the gap between the surfaces taken into account. We analyze the influence of the surface microgeometry parameters at different scale levels on the character of the surface interaction (the saturated or discrete contact) and the friction force for different sliding velocities of the contacting bodies.