Simulation of friction phenomena between randomly rough elastic surfaces

Friction induced vibrations are a widely studied field in which the friction coefficient is one of the most important parameters. Measurements show that the friction coefficient underlies stochastic fluctuations. To gain more knowledge about the friction coefficient a finite element study is carried out in order to simulate the friction forces. The Bowden-Tabor model is implemented which calculates the friction force as the force which is needed to shear apart contact areas hold together by welding or adhesion. The dependency of the friction value on sliding velocity and normal pressure can be determined with this model. Different realization are studied and the stochastic properties of the friction value such as mean value, standard deviation, amplitude spectrum and correlation coefficient can be calculated depending on the roughness of the surface. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)