Rolling friction of a viscoelastic sphere on a rigid plane in finite deformation

Abstract

In this work we study the mechanism of rolling friction controlling the movement of a viscoelastic sphere under large non-linear deformations over a rigid plane. The study is based on a 3D continuous model written in referential coordinates assuming a Saint Venant Kirchooff with newtonian internal friction material and complemented with appropriate boundary conditions at the contact interface. The model is discretized spatially by finite elements and its subsequent evolution from initial conditions followed in time. Several additional numerical experiments, designed with the aid of dimensional analysis, investigate the dependence of the Rolling Friction Coefficient (RFC) on the model parameters such as the rolling velocity, contact load, and material properties. The model results show that the RFC is approximately proportional to the contact load and sphere size and that it increases linearly with the rolling velocity. In contrast to previous studies, the model shows that the RFC increases with the Poisson ratio.