Producing 3D Friction Loads by Tracking the Motion of the Contact Point on Bodies in Mutual Contact

TL;DR

This paper introduces a phenomenological 3D friction model that tracks the contact point motion to compute slide, roll, and spin friction loads for arbitrarily shaped bodies in mutual contact.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to model and compute multiple friction loads simultaneously in 3D by tracking contact point evolution, applicable to bodies of arbitrary geometry.

Findings

Accurately computes 3D friction loads including slide, roll, and spin.

Handles static and kinematic friction coefficients.

Applicable to bodies with arbitrary geometry.

Abstract

We outline a phenomenological model to assess friction at the interface between two bodies in mutual contact. Although the approach is general, the application inspiring the approach is the Discrete Element Method. The kinematics of the friction process is expressed in terms of the relative 3D motion of the contact point on the two surfaces in mutual contact. The model produces expressions for three friction loads: slide force, roll torque, and spin torque. The cornerstone of the methodology is the process of tracking the evolution/path of the contact point on the surface of the two bodies in mutual contact. The salient attribute of the model lies with its ability to simultaneously compute, in a 3D setup, the slide, roll, and spin friction loads for smooth bodies of arbitrary geometry while accounting for both static and kinematic friction coefficients.