A study of the friction between styrene butadiene rubber and ice has been undertaken. The instrument used o perform the measurements (a tribometer) was designed, constructed and developed specifically for this task and so has been optimised for this tribosystem. The versatile and compact design is easily accommodated in a domestic freezer and has been utilised to measure friction in both steady-state and transient regimes. The experimental component of the study is comprised of two separate and novel parts. Firstly, steady-state (constant temperature, load and speed) measurements of the sliding friction are placed on a friction map in speed-temperature space. This enables the frictional behaviour of this complex system to be presented in a clear and uncomplicated fashion. As the frictional behaviour of both rubber and ice independently change with the prevalent environmental conditions, presentation of data in this format allows the changes to be observed for all conditions encompassed by the map. Reference to maps of this form is beneficial from both traction and sliding perspectives as the areas of high and low friction are clearly demonstrated. The second experimental section relates to the transient nature of friction as it changes from static to sliding regimes. This study uncovered the temperature and force rate dependencies that can be utilised to increase the (typically) very low friction on ice. Application of this aspect of rubber-ice friction is particularly important to the automotive industry where transient regimes are widely used in safety and performance enhancement systems such as anti-lock braking systems and stability control.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:652423 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Higgins, Daniel |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/14063 |
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