Rubber wear: experiment and theory

TL;DR

This study investigates tire rubber wear on concrete surfaces, revealing proportionality to normal force, independence from sliding speed, and reduced wear in wet conditions, supported by experimental data and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It provides a combined experimental and theoretical analysis of rubber wear, including the effects of wet conditions and contact pressure.

Findings

Wear rate proportional to normal force

Wear rate independent of sliding speed

Wet conditions reduce wear significantly

Abstract

We study the wear rate (mass loss per unit sliding distance) of a tire tread rubber compound sliding on concrete paver surfaces under dry and wet conditions, at different nominal contact pressures of $\sigma_0 = 0.12$, $0.29$, and $0.43 \ {\rm MPa}$, and sliding velocities ranging from $v= 1 \ {\rm \mu m/s}$ to $1 \ {\rm cm/s}$. We find that the wear rate is proportional to the normal force and remains independent of the sliding speed. Sliding in water and soapy water results in significantly lower wear rates compared to dry conditions. The experimental data are analyzed using a theory that predicts wear rates and wear particle size distributions consistent with the experimental observations.