Surface Topography and Friction Dynamics in Brake Systems Described by a Cellular Automaton

For the description of a friction event it is necessary to understand the friction coefficient μ as a process-parameter dependent not only on the surface-structure but also for instance on the relative velocity, normal load, temperature and the event itself. In brake systems, for example, growing and destroying processes of hard thin patches determine the friction power and the transfer of kinetic energy into heat and plastic deformations, such as wear. So the interaction of friction and wear is given by an equilibrium of flow of different processes resulting in growing effects or lowering effects on the friction coefficient itself [2]–[4]. The aim of this paper is to show the detailed interaction of this topographical dynamics and the friction behavior with the Method of Cellular Automata.