A Numerical Simulation of Interfacial Slip and its Role in Friction

The transition from static friction to kinetic friction results from the attainment of a point of instability, whereby interfacial slip becomes more energetically favorable than sticking. Such an instability is explored in this work via a plane-strain elastostatic analysis. A rigid pin of prescribed geometry is placed in contact with an elastic slab and translated horizontally under conditions of constant load. An intrinsic static coefficient of friction is prescribed, which limits the ratio of shear stress to contact pressure at each location within the interface. Additionally, the surface of the elastic slab is given a desired undulation to simulate the effects of surface roughness. As the pin is translated horizontally, a lateral reaction force (i.e., friction force) is developed and is observed to grow nearly linearly with increasing lateral displacement. At a critical point, a substantial portion of the interface experiences slip, leading to a large decrease in the friction force and thereby revealing a stick-slip behavior. It is found that the overall (macroscopic) static friction coefficient can be significantly less than the intrinsic friction coefficient and that the presence of even a small amount of roughness can have a large effect on the friction force.