The constant pursuit in the automotive industry to increase the engines performance, new solutions are always developed and tested to reduce the friction and increase the efficiency in the engine. One component that contributes to friction losses is the piston ring pack where the top compression stands for up to 40 %. This master thesis collaborated with Scania’s material science department Basic engine and covers the friction and wear of four different materials on the cylinder liner surface against the top compression ring.The four tested materials were grey cast iron with different honing quality and three atmospheric plasma sprayed coatings with titanium oxide, chromium oxide and Metco’s mixture F2071 which is a stainless steel mixed with a ceramic. A martensitic steel piston ring with a chromium coated sliding surface was used for all the testing in the Cameron-Plint TE77 test-rig. This is a pin-on-disc test method and the parameters used for testing is set to replicate the environment the ring is exposed to at the top dead centre.The test-rig has been in Scania’s possession for a long time and has not always given a satisfying result. An uneven contact between the ring and liner has been a problem resulting in only worn edges of the liner specimen. The piston ring holder was therefore redesigned to be able to adjust the radius of the ring. This allowed a good conformability between the ring and liner to be obtained.The tested materials were evaluated according to friction and wear. Friction was measured with the test-rig and the wear was calculated with surface profiles that were measured before and after testing. Worn surfaces were studied in a SEM to verify which wear mechanism that was active. The changes of the surfaces was studied with the use of following surface parameters Ra, Rk, Rpk, Rvk and if there was a connection between these parameters and friction and wear coefficient.Independent of honing quality showed the grey cast iron lowest friction coefficient just under 0.13, the F2071 liner showed a friction coefficient just above 0.13. Both oxide layers showed similar friction where the chromium oxide had a friction just below 0.15 and the titanium oxide lay just above 0.15. Lowest wear coefficient had the chromium oxide followed by F2071, titanium oxide and the bad honed grey cast iron. These three liners showed almost the exact same wear coefficient. Worst wear coefficient had the grey cast iron with a good honing quality. A mild abrasive wear mechanism was active during the wear test and vague wear marks was found on the surface. There is no connection between wear coefficient and friction and the change in surface roughness during the test does not affect the friction.

The present work deals with developing a tribological test machine that had been built earlier but did not function properly. It was giving out abnormal noises and vibrations and was not corresponding to its desired functions. In this study, the root of these problems is analyzed and some solutions are suggested by developing a new construction concept for the machine.

L’enjeu de ce travail concerne la dissipation interfaciale et volumique induite par le frottement dans les matériaux composites modèles á base d’époxy renforcée par du carbone, ainsi que dans l’époxy pure. Alors que la dissipation interfaciale dépend surtout des propriétés d’une couche mince de surface, la dissipation volumique induit des déformations de volume importantes. Dans un premier temps, nous avons effectué une étude expérimentale de frottement sur les résines époxy renforcées par des fibres et des nanoperles de carbone en différentes concentrations sous des conditions tribologiques faibles. Afin de comprendre les résultats obtenus, une loi de frottement généralisée pour le frottement interfacial entre deux composites a été proposée. Basée sur la théorie de Bowden et Tabor et appliquée au contact des composites, elle requiert un paramètre géométrique de contact et des coefficients de frottement locaux. En fonction de l’hypothèse appliquée, la contrainte de cisaillement ou la dureté effective pour toutes les phases du composite, elle découle sur une loi de proportionnalité directe ou inverse. Ces résultats analytiques complètent et expliquent les tendances obtenues expérimentalement : la loi directe doit être appliquée pour le contact composite/époxy, tandis que la loi inverse est valide pour le contact composite/composite. La deuxième partie du travail expérimental est consacrée á l’étude sur l’époxy pure et celle renforcée par des fibres de carbone sous des conditions tribologiques plus sévères. Son objectif est d’étudier la dissipation volumique et l’usure associée. Dans ce cadre, une approche multi-échelle est établie, qui consiste d’abord á calculer les paramètres macroscopiques, comme le taux d’usure, l’énergie dissipée par le frottement, le coefficient de frottement et l’augmentation de la température. Ces paramètres sont ensuite couplés avec les observations des surfaces endommagées. Cette approche nous permet de distinguer plusieurs régimes d’usure, i.e. l’abrasion á deux et trois corps, l’adhésion, la fatigue et les effets thermiques, et associer leur apparence et leur évolution avec les paramètres macroscopiques. Contrairement á l’époxy pure, le composite renforcé par des fibres de carbone s’avère être plus résistant á l’usure. / An investigation of interfacial and bulk friction-induced dissipation in model epoxy-based composite materials reinforced with carbon fillers, as well as pure epoxy, is a challenge of this PhD thesis. While the interfacial dissipation depends mostly on surface properties of very thin material layer, the bulk dissipation involves high volume deformations. Firstly, an experimental friction investigation on carbon fibre- and carbon nanopearl-reinforcedepoxies of different filler volume friction under soft tribological conditions is carried out. In order to understand the results, a generalized frictional law for interfacial friction between two composites is proposed. It is based on Bowden and Tabor theory applied to multimaterial contact and requires a contact in-plane geometry parameter and local friction coefficients. Depending on applied assumption, effective shear stress or effective hardness for all composite phases, it results in direct or inverse proportionality frictional law. These analytical results complete and explain the experimentally obtained tendencies: the direct law should be applied to the composite/epoxy contact, while the inverse law is valid for the composite/composite contact. The second part of the experimental work deals with pure epoxy and carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy under severe tribological conditions. It aims to investigate bulk frictional dissipation and associated wear. A two-scale approach is established, which consists in calculation of macro parameters, such as wear rate, dissipated frictional energy, friction coefficient and relative contact temperature rise, and their coupling with damaged surface observations. This approach allows us to distinguish several wear modes, as two-body and three-body abrasion, adhesion, fatigue and thermal effects, and to associate their appearance and evolution to macro parameters. In contrast to pure epoxy, carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy tends to be more wear resistant.

La plupart des systèmes mécaniques contiennent des contacts lubrifiés (articulations, roulements, ...) qui sont soumis à des efforts importants. Dans ce travail expérimental, on s’intéresse à l’influence de la rugosité sur la friction dans les régimes de lubrification élastohydrodynamique (EHD), mixte, et limite dans des conditions représentatives des contacts dans un moteur de voiture. Les surfaces utilisées dans ce travail sont principalement des aciers usinés industriellement, revêtus ou non de Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC). La force de friction dans les régimes mixte et limite étant bien plus importante qu’en régime EHD, il est important de pouvoir prédire les transitions d’un régime à l’autre. Le problème est que la rugosité affecte significativement les vitesses de transition entre ces régimes, de telle manière qu’il est difficile de prédire le régime de fonctionnement d’un couple donné de surfaces. Les travaux expérimentaux s’attardant sur ce problème sont rares, et les tentatives théoriques d’inclure l’effet de rugosités aléatoires reposent sur des paramètres difficiles à mesurer à cause de leur grande dépendance vis-à-vis des conditions de filtrage, d’échantillonnage, et de leur non-stationnarité. à partir de nombreuses mesures topograhiques (interférométrie et AFM), une méthode assurant la représentativité des paramètres statistiques de rugosité est donc d’abord mise en œuvre pour caractériser des surfaces dont la rugosité va du nanomètre au micron. Des expériences de Stribeck sont ensuite menées avec ces surfaces afin de corréler leur signature morphologique à leur comportement en friction. La rhéologie sous pression de lubrifiants (poly-α oléfines) est mesurée dans un contact lisse en fonction de la pression et de la température, ce qui permet de prédire quantitativement la friction en régime élastohydrodynamique pour tout couple de surfaces, mais aussi de définir un critère non phénoménologique d’entrée en régime de lubrification mixte. à haute vitesse d’entraînement, la contrainte visqueuse décroît avec le taux de cisaillement ce qui est traditionnellement attribué à un échauffement du lubrifiant. On montre que les effets thermiques ne peuvent expliquer une telle chute et on l’explique par l’étalement du profil de pression dans le convergent, phénomène significatif quand l’épaisseur de lubrifiant devient de l’ordre d’un dixième de la taille du contact. Les résultats montrent que le produit de la viscosité dans le convergent avec la vitesse d’entraînement à la transition mixte-EHD suit une loi de puissance super-linéaire avec la rugosité, tous matériaux confondus, ce qui permet de prédire cette transition en fonction de la rugosité. La transition entre régimes mixte et limite est plus complexe et laisse apparaître un comportement clairement différent entre les contacts DLC/DLC et les contacts mettant en jeu au moins une surface d’acier. Pour les contacts DLC/DLC, la friction en régime limite correspond au cisaillement plastique du lubrifiant, ce qui explique que la rugosité n’affecte pas le frottement limite de ces contacts. Le frottement des contacts acier/acier et acier/DLC est plus important et présente deux évolutions monotones avec la rugosité composite du contact, que nous interprétons grâce à des expériences tribologiques à haut taux de glissement. Finalement, un modèle de portance mixte basé sur la théorie de Greenwood-Williamson est mis en œuvre et permet de reproduire avec une précision honorable les courbes de Stribeck obtenues expérimentalement. En particulier, ce modèle permet de déterminer les conditions d’échantillonnage optimales pour déterminer les propriétés des aspérités. / Most mechanical systems include lubricated contacts submitted to important strengths. The present work deals with the influence of surface roughness on friction in the elastohydrodynamic (EHD), mixed and boundary lubrication regimes, with operating conditions that are typically those found in an internal combustion engine. Most of the surfaces used in the experiments are machined steel, with or with a Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating. Given the friction in boundary and mixed lubrication being higher than in EHD lubrication, it is crucial to predict the transitions between these regimes. These strongly depend on surface roughness. There are very few experimental works that deal with this issue, and the theoretical attempts to include the influence of random surface roughness are based on roughness parameters that are difficult to measure because of their dependence towards the sampling conditions and their non-stationarity. Based on numerous topographical surveys (using interferometry and AFM), a method is implemented to ensure the representativeness of roughness statistical parameters in order to characterize a range of surface roughnesses within the interval [0.001 ; 1] μm. Then, these surfaces are rubbed against each other using Stribeck procedures in order to correlate their morphology to their friction behaviour. The high-pressure rheology of poly-α olefins is measured in smooth contacts with respect to the pressure and the temperature. This not only allows to quantify the friction force for any contact operating in EHD lubrication, but also to set a criterion to spot the onset of mixed lubrication. At high entrainment speed, the viscous shear stress vanishes, which is often attributed to shear heating. It is shown that thermal effects can not explain such a drop of friction for our own experiments. However, the widening of the pressure profile — which becomes significant when the film thickness becomes comparable to a tenth the contact length — is more likely to explain this behaviour. Our results show that the product of the inlet viscosity with the entrainment speed, spotted at the mixed-EHD transition, follows a super linear power law with the RMS roughness, whatever the materials involved, which allows to predict whether a contact operate in mixed lubrication or not. The transition from mixed to boundary lubrication reveals material and roughness-dependent with a clearly different behaviour between DLC/DLC contacts and contacts involving at least one steel body. Regarding the DLC/DLC contacts, the boundary friction is due to the plastic shearing of the lubricant, which explains why surface roughness has no influence on boundary friction for these contacts. With Steel/DLC and steel/steel contacts, the boundary friction presents two monotonous trends versus the composite RMS roughness. Eventually, a mixed bearing model based on the Greenwood-Willimason assumptions was implemented and allowed to reproduce quite closely the experimentally obtained Stribeck curves. This implementation indicates in particular the sampling conditions that are optimal to capture relevant asperity parameters.

Les Pertuis Charentais sont un site d’écosystèmes interconnectés où les courants marins jouent un rôle déterminant. Un modèle de marée à haute résolution a été développé au cours de cette thèse pour comprendre et cartographier les traits principaux de la circulation hydrodynamique dans les Pertuis. Deux axes sont ainsi mis en avant dans cette étude. D’abord, un nouveau modèle de marées dans les Pertuis Charentais a été construit et validé à partir de différentes sources : données marégraphiques, données de courantomètres ADCP et images satellitaires. Une nouvelle approche de calibration de modèle de marée a été développée, basée sur la comparaison de la position de la ligne d’eau, frontière entre l’eau et la terre, avec celle prédite par le modèle. Puis dans un second temps, le transport et les agrégations en « bloom » de populations de méduses Rhizostoma, dont les proliférations et les échouages sont à l’origine de problèmes socio-économiques, ont été simulés numériquement. Des observations in situ ont permis de paramétrer le comportement de nage des méduses dans le modèle. Deux types de comportements des méduses, actif et passif ont été simulés. Les courants de marées en présence des forçages-type météorologiques ont été pris en compte. Les résultats indiquent que le comportement individuel de nage des méduses pourrait être une réponse adaptative aux facteurs abiotiques qui menacent la continuité de leur espèce mais que les courants marins restent la cause première de la formation des blooms. / The Pertuis Charentais are an interconnected ecosystems site where ocean currents play a key role. A high resolution tidal model was developed in this thesis in order to understand the main features of the hydrodynamic flows inside the Pertuis. Two topics were put forward in this study. First, a new tide model for the Pertuis Charentais was build up and validated by using different datasets: tide gauge records, measurements of currents by ADCP and satellite images. A new approach to model calibration was developed by comparing the observed position of the waterline, the boundary between land and water, with that predicted by the model. Secondly, the transport and bloom-like aggregation of the Rhizostoma jellyfish populations were simulated numerically. The jellyfish proliferation and stranding are a source of socio-economic problems. Two types of jellyfish behavior, active and passive were simulated. The tidal currents and typical meteorological forcing were taken into account. The results show that the individual behavior of swimming jellyfish is an adaptive response to abiotic factors for jellyfish survival.

The objective of this PhD thesis was the study of friction in carbon nanotubes by analytical methods and molecular dynamics simulations. The goal of this research was to characterize the properties of friction in nanotubes and from a more general point of view the understanding of the microscopic origin of friction. Indeed, the relative simplicity of the system allows us to interpret more easily the physical phenomenon observed than in larger systems. In order to achieve this goal, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics permitted first to develop models based on Langevin equations describing the dynamics of rotation and translation in double walled nanotubes. The molecular dynamics simulations then permitted to validate these analytical models, and thus to study general properties of friction such as the dependence on area of contact, temperature and the geometry of the nanotubes.<p><p>The results obtained shows that the friction increases linearly with the sliding velocity or the angular velocity until very high values beyond that non-linearities appear enhancing dissipation. In the linear regime, it is shown that the proportionality factor between the dynamic friction force and the velocity is given by the time integral of the autocorrelation function of the restoring force for the sliding friction and of the torque for the rotational friction. Furthermore, a novel resonant friction phenomenon increasing significantly dissipation was observed for the sliding motion in certain types of nanotubes. The effect arises at sliding velocities corresponding to certain vibrational modes of the nanotubes. When the dynamics is described by the linear friction in velocity, the empirical law stating that friction is proportional to the area of contact is very well verified thanks to the molecular dynamics simulations. On the other hand, friction increases with temperature. The fact that friction increases as well with the area of contact as the temperature can be easily interpreted. Indeed, if the temperature is large enough so that the electronic effects can be negligible, dissipation is only due to the phonons. Indeed, it is the phonons who give the sliding or rotation energy to the other degrees of freedom until thermodynamic equilibrium is achieved. Thus, if the temperature increases, the coupling between the phonons and the rotational or translational motions increases, as well as friction. In the same manner, when the area of contact increases, the number of available phonons to transport energy increases, explaining thus the increase of the friction force.<p> / Doctorat en sciences, Spécialisation physique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Dans le domaine aéronautique, le soudage par friction-malaxage (FSW – Friction Stir Welding) apparait comme un procédé innovant d’assemblage des fuselages, allégeant la structure avion en remplaçant la technique actuelle de rivetage. La simulation numérique est un support permettant de mieux comprendre et maîtriser ce procédé. L’alliage d’aluminium étudié dans ce projet est de type AA2024-T3 et tire principalement ses propriétés du durcissement structural. Modéliser l’évolution de la précipitation s’avère essentiel pour définir les propriétés finales de la soudure. Le modèle choisi doit prendre en considération les familles de précipités formés et les processus de germination, croissance et coalescence. Il doit être précis, robuste et rapide pour être applicable au procédé FSW. Un modèle de classe couplé à des calculs d’équilibre thermodynamiques a été choisi dans cette étude. Pour définir la cinétique de croissance d’un précipité, une cinétique de croissance initialement établie pour un alliage binaire a été étendue à un alliage multicomposé. Connaissant la distribution en taille des familles de précipités, les propriétés mécaniques sont définies selon un modèle empirique. La calibration anisotherme a été réalisée via un essai de DSC où signaux expérimentaux et simulés ont été comparés pour déterminer la teneur initiale des phases en présence et définir les paramètres matériaux de l’alliage. L’essai isotherme a établi le lien entre état de précipitation et propriétés mécaniques résultantes. Le modèle est appliqué à la simulation des évolutions microstructurales au cours d’une soudure FSW afin de prédire les propriétés finales du joint soudé. Les évolutions thermiques sont déterminées via l’utilisation d’un modèle macroscopique développé parallèlement dans une thèse, également portée par la Chaire Daher. Les données numériques obtenues sont comparées à des expériences instrumentées, montrant une bonne estimation des duretés. Les profils expérimentaux sont retrouvés, de même que les caractéristiques des différents domaines, validant l’approche et sa capacité à simuler efficacement les évolutions des processus de précipitation. / In the aeronautic industry, the friction stir welding (FSW) process is seen as an interesting option to lighten aircraft structure by replacing the standard riveting technology used to join parts. Numerical simulation is chosen to improve understanding of the different mechanisms occurring during FSW. The aluminum alloy studied is an AA2024-T3 grade. Its mechanical properties mainly derive from structural hardening mechanisms. An accurate model of precipitate evolution is essential to define hardness profile of the weld. The chosen simulation has to be robust and time-efficient in order to be suitable for the FSW process modeling. It must consider the two families of precipitates (GPB zones and S phase) and model nucleation, growth and coarsening phenomena. A PSD model is chosen and coupled with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. To define the growth kinetics of precipitates, an exact analytical solution is extended to a multi-component alloy. Knowing the distribution of precipitates size, the mechanical properties are defined based on an empirical model. The amount and properties of phases are initialized through non-isothermal DSC calibration and comparison between experimental heat flux and simulated one. Isothermal test is selected to establish the link between precipitation state and mechanical properties. The model is applied to the simulation of microstructural evolution in FSW in order to predict the final properties of the weld. Thermal changes are determined through the use of a macroscopic model developed during a twin project within the Chair Daher. Numerical results are compared with instrumented experiments and show a good estimate of hardness. The experimental profiles are found, as well as the characteristics of the different areas. This validates the approach and its efficiency to simulate the evolution of the precipitation process.

Le secteur du transport en Europe dépend à 98% du pétrole, participe pour plus de 30% à la consommation énergétique et représente plus de 20% des émissions totales de gaz à effet de serre. Dans ce contexte, le développement des biocarburants permettrait une diversification énergétique et une diminution des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, les biocarburants ayant un impact environnemental réduit. De plus, le frottement dans les moteurs diesel est responsable de la perte de la consommation totale d'énergie de près de 15%. La plupart de ces pertes sont liées au contact piston-chemise. Développer les biocarburants peut alors contribuer à réduire d’une part la consommation d’énergie et d’autre part les émissions polluantes. L'additivation de biocarburants avec des modificateurs de frottement organiques (MF) peut être l’une des solutions pour répondre à cette problématique. Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié les propriétés de réduction de frottement de différents types de MF organiques dans les matrices carburant (B0) et biocarburant (B7), en contact acier / acier. Une diminution significative du coefficient de frottement, de plus de 50%, a été observée en présence d'un mélange d'acides gras en matrice B7 à 100 °C. De plus, peu d’usure est causée durant le test en frottement grâce à la formation d'un tribofilm organique. Cette tribofilm semble être amorphe et généré par une réticulation accélérée des acides gras insaturés (MF) en présence d'esters (B7) dans les conditions tribologiques utilisées. Appuyé par des techniques d’analyses de surface, un mécanisme d'action de réduction de frottement par les additifs organiques dans les biocarburants est proposé et de nouvelles pistes de développement sont présentées. / Improve friction efficiency and environmental sustainability of engines have been increasing in importance since the end of 20th century. Indeed, friction in diesel engines is responsible for almost 15% loss of the total energy consumption. Most of these losses are related to the pistonliner contact. The development of new biofuels, allowing an energy diversification and decreasing the emissions of greenhouse gases due to their reduced environmental impact, can contribute to environmental sustainability and reduction in energy costs. The additivation of biofuels with organic friction modifiers additives (FM) can be an essential way to address this problem. In this thesis, we investigated the friction reduction properties of different kinds of organic FM in fuel (B0) and biofuel (B7) matrixes for steel/steel contact. A significant decrease of friction coefficient, more than 50%, was observed in the presence of a mixture of fatty acids blended to the B7 matrix at 100°C. Moreover, almost no wear is caused on the track thanks to the formation of an organic tribofilm. This organic-based tribofilm appears to be amorphous and generated by an easiest crosslinking of the unsaturated fatty acids (FMs) in the presence of esters under tribological conditions. Supported by advances surface analyses, a potential friction reduction action mechanism of acid-based additives in biofuels is proposed and new avenues for development are provided.

The design of traction mechanisms of continuous conveying units (e. g. plastic chains) is so far based on a purely mechanical dimensioning. However, mechanical limits are only applicable in a limited way to avoid system failure. With higher speeds or pressure, especially the thermal stress increases, which results in system failure based on softening or melting of the materials at a certain temperature. By means of systematic studies, correlations between friction temperature, coefficient of friction, wear and process parameters are examined. On this basis, a model for calculating the friction temperature is developed. / Die Konstruktion von Zugmitteln für kontinuierliche Fördereinheiten (z. B. Kunststoffketten) beruht bisher auf einer rein mechanischen Dimensionierung. Allerdings sind mechanische Grenzwerte zur Vermeidung von Systemausfall nur bedingt anwendbar. Bei größeren Geschwindigkeiten oder Druck erhöht sich insbesondere die thermische Beanspruchung, was bei einer bestimmten Temperatur zum Systemausfall durch Erweichung oder Schmelzen der Werkstoffe führt. In systematischen Untersuchungen wurden die Korrelationen zwischen Reibungstemperatur, Reibungskoeffizient, Verschleiß und den Prozessparametern untersucht. Auf dieser Basis wurde ein Modell zur Berechnung der Reibungstemperatur entwickelt.

Surfaces are rough, unless special care is taken to make them atomically smooth. Roughness exists at all scales, and any surface-producing operation affects the roughness in certain degrees, specific to the production process. When two surfaces are brought close to each other, contact is established at many isolated locations. The number and size of these contact islands depend on the applied load, material properties of the surfaces and the nature of roughness. These contact islands affect the tribological properties of the contacting surfaces. The real contact area, which is the sum total of the area of contacting islands, is much smaller than the apparent contact area dictated by the macroscopic geometry of the contacting surfaces. Since the total load is supported by these contact islands, the local contact pressure will be very high, and dependent on the local microscopic geometry of the roughness. Thus understanding the deformation behaviour of the rough surfaces will lead to better understanding of friction and wear properties of the surfaces. In this work, the interaction of these contact islands with each other is studied when two surfaces are in contact and sliding past each other. Asperities can be thought of as basic units of roughness. The geometry and the distribution of heights of asperities can be used to define the roughness. For example, one of the earliest models of roughness is that of hemispherical asperities carrying smaller hemispherical asperities on their back, which in turn carry smaller asperities, and soon. In the present study the asperities are assumed to be of uniform size, shape and distribution. Normal and tangential loading response of these asperities with a rigid indenter is studied through elastic-plastic plane strain finite element studies. As a rigid indenter is loaded onto a surface with a regular array of identical asperities, initial contact is established at a single asperity. The plastic zone is initially confined within the asperity. When the load is increased ,the elastic-plastic boundary moves towards the free surface of the asperity, and the contact pressure decreases. The geometry and spacing are determined when the neighbouring asperities come into contact. The plastic zone in these asperities is constrained, and hence contact pressure sustained by these asperities is larger. As the indentation progresses, more asperities come into contact in a similar way. If a tangential displacement is now applied to the indenter, the von Mises stress contours shift in the direction of indenter displacement. As the tangential displacement increases, the number of asperities in contact with the indenter decreases gradually before reaching a steady sliding state. The tangential sliding force experienced by the indenter arises from two components. One is the frictional resistance between the contacting surfaces and the other is due to the plastic deformation of the substrate. If the surface is completely elastic, it has been seen that the sliding force is purely due to the specified friction coefficient. For the smooth surface, as the subsurface makes the transition from purely elastic to confined plastic zone, plasticity breaks out on the free surface, hence the sliding force increases. For surfaces with asperities, even at very small load, the asperities deform plastically and hence the sliding force is considerably higher. The frictional force is experimentally measured by sliding a spherical indenter on smooth and rough surfaces. These experimental results are qualitatively compared with two dimensional finite element results. It has been observed that for rough surface, sliding force is considerablyhigherthanthesmoothsurface,asisobservedinsimu-lations at lower loads. In contrast to the simulations, the sliding force decreases at higher loads for both the smooth and rough surfaces.