FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

BENG (HONS) IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME

(BMEGI)

MEE3219
ENGINEERING DYNAMICS
LABORATORY REPORTS
EXPERIMENT 5: DRY FRICTION
Name: Yong Soon Yeow
ID: I14004770

Objective
1. To define coefficients of dynamic and static friction for certain materials.

Theory

Dry Friction
Friction force: When two surfaces come into contact, forces are applied by
each surface on the other. The part which is tangent to the contacting
surfaces is called the frictional force. If the two surfaces in contact do not
move relative to each other, one has static friction. If the two contacting
surfaces are moving relative to each other, then one has kinetic (dynamic or
slipping) friction.
Static Friction: The frictional force F that can result between two surfaces
without having the surfaces slide relative to each other is bounded by the
equation

where N is the normal force to the surface, and

of friction.

is the static coefficient

Kinetic friction: The frictional force F that results when two surfaces are
sliding on each other is proportional to the normal force applied on the
surfaces and is directed opposite to the relative motion of the surfaces. The
factor of proportionality is the coefficient of kinetic friction,
equation for F is

, and the

In general the coefficient of kinetic friction is smaller than the coefficient of

static friction, which explains the initial difficulty of getting an object to
slide.

Pending motion: Pending motion refers to the state just before surfaces
start to slip. In this case the static frictional force has reached its upper limit
and is given by the equation
. The direction of the frictional
force is opposite to the pending relative motion of the surfaces.
Tipping: When a object starts to tip, it starts to pivot around a point. As a
result the contact forces (frictional and normal) must be applied at the pivot
point. If the object tips before it slips, then one can find the frictional force
from the equations of equilibrium.

Calculating the location of the normal force: If the contact is a surface as

opposed to a point, then there is a distribution of normal and frictional
forces on that surface. The location of the resultant normal force can be
determined from the equilibrium equations.

Procedure and Result

Equipment:Dry Friction Track
The equipment consists of the track,a vehicle,Velcro weights for adding to the
vehicle,a pulley chord, a weights set for the pulley cord and two light gates for
measuring the speed of the vehicle.
1. With the indicatons given by laboratory instructor,by modifying the
inclined track angle and adding masses on vehicle and/or weight set
hanger try to create constant speed for the vehicle.After repeating your
test and have confidence in your results,balances forces and you are
able to calculate the dynamic coefficient of friction for the contacting
materials.Repeat this step by changing materials and/or
weights.Repeat the experiment by changing the contacting materials.
2. Similar to procedure number(1) but this time the vehicle need to be
constant but at the verge of start to move.You can create this condition
by addition or removing the masses and/or change the inclined angle
of the track.Similarly you can calculate the static coefficient of
friction.similarly repeat the experiment and also repeat the whole
procedure by changing the contacting materials.
Data & Analysis:
Aluminium=118g
Brass=312g
Steel=282g
Wood=124g

For the procedure (1),which we call it as Experiment (1),the results are:

Wood
Angle
0
5
10
15
20

Force
0.7
0.8
1.0
1.1
1.2

Steel
Angle
0
5
10
15
20

Force
1.0
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.9

Brass
Angle
0
5
10
15
20

Force
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.6
1.9

Aluminium
Angle
0
5
10
15
20

Force
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9

Average coefficient of dynamics and static friction for all:

s =

FMgsin
Mgcos

The above formula is form as there is another force acting downward so we

must remove the extra force to find the Coefficient of dynamic and static
force.

Wood

Steel

Brass

Aluminium

Exp
0.5645
0.5601
0.6426
0.6504
0.6658
Average:0.6167

Exp
0.3546
0.3397
0.2918
0.2460
0.3530
0.3170

Exp
0.3205
0.2664
0.2142
0.2630
0.2841
0.2696
Table 1

Exp
0.4237
0.4229
0.4260
0.4339
0.4477
0.4308

From table 1, it show the highest coefficient of dynamic and static friction is
and the metal are the lesser coefficient. It show that the angle will affect the
value of coefficient, but it is very litter. A different amount of Weight will
largely affected the value of the coefficient as from the formula:

s =

FMgsin
Mgcos

The weight=Mg will have a huge affecr for the coefficient of the dynamic and
static friction, but the change of angle will not making any big different as
the value change is small.
For the procedure (2), which we call it as Experiment (2), the results are:
Materials
Angle
s =tan
Wood
30.8
0.5961
Steel
18.0
0.3249
Brass
14.5
0.2586
Aluminium
24.0
0.4452
First,
By Formula:

|Ep 1 xexp 2|
exp 1

100 =Error percentage

we can calculate the percent error which can let us know whether the
Experiment is accurate or not.

For example we taking wood reading of

the error percent:

for Exp1 and Exp2 to find out

|0.61670.5961
|100 =3.34
0.6167
Thus the reading of

s for the wood block is acceptable.

So, now we calculate all the other materials to ensure that the experiment is
successful.
Steel:

|0.31700.3249
|100 =2.49
0.3170

Brass:

|0.26290.2586
|100 =1.64
0.2629
Aluminium:

|0.43080.4452
|100 =3.34
0.4308
From the results we calculated, our experiment could be accepted, as the
errors percent are not exceed the error limit, which is above 5%.

Discussion
Dry friction resists relative lateral motion of two solid surfaces in contact. The two
regimes of dry friction are 'static friction' between non-moving surfaces, and kinetic
friction (sometimes called sliding friction or dynamic friction) between moving surfaces.
Coulomb friction, named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, is an approximate model
used to calculate the force of dry friction. It is governed by the model:

where

is the force of friction exerted by each surface on the other. It is parallel to the
surface, in a direction opposite to the net applied force.

is the coefficient of friction, which is an empirical property of the contacting

materials,

is the normal force exerted by each surface on the other, directed

perpendicular (normal) to the surface.
The Coulomb friction

may take any value from zero up to

, and the

direction of the frictional force against a surface is opposite to the motion that surface
would experience in the absence of friction. Thus, in the static case, the frictional
force is exactly what it must be in order to prevent motion between the surfaces; it
balances the net force tending to cause such motion. In this case, rather than
providing an estimate of the actual frictional force, the Coulomb approximation
provides a threshold value for this force, above which motion would commence. This
maximum force is known as traction.
The force of friction is always exerted in a direction that opposes movement (for

kinetic friction) or potential movement (for static friction) between the two surfaces.
For example, a curling stone sliding along the ice experiences a kinetic force slowing
it down. For an example of potential movement, the drive wheels of an accelerating
car experience a frictional force pointing forward; if they did not, the wheels would
spin, and the rubber would slide backwards along the pavement. Note that it is not
the direction of movement of the vehicle they oppose, it is the direction of (potential)
sliding between tire and road.

Reference
1. Friction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2015. Friction Wikipedia,
the
free
encyclopedia.
[ONLINE]
Available
at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction#Dry_friction.
2. Dry
Friction.
2015. Dry
Friction.
[ONLINE]
Available
at:http://emweb.unl.edu/NEGAHBAN/EM223/note15/note15.htm.
3. Dry Sliding Friction Experiments at Elevated Velocities Lodygowski - 2010 - Strain - Wiley Online Library. 2015. Dry
Sliding Friction Experiments at Elevated Velocities - Lodygowski 2010 - Strain - Wiley Online Library. [ONLINE] Available
at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.14751305.2010.00785.x/abstract.

Conclusion

Dry friction resists relative lateral motion of two solid surfaces in contact. Dry friction
is subdivided into static friction between non-moving surfaces, and kinetic
friction between moving surfaces.
When surfaces in contact move relative to each other, the friction between the two
surfaces converts kinetic energy into thermal energy. This property can have dramatic
consequences, as illustrated by the use of friction created by rubbing pieces of wood
together to start a fire. Kinetic energy is converted to thermal energy whenever motion
with friction occurs, for example when aviscous fluid is stirred. Another important
consequence of many types of friction can be wear, which may lead to performance
degradation and/or damage to components. Friction is a component of the science
of tribology.
Friction is not itself a fundamental force but arises from interatomic and
intermolecular forces between the two contacting surfaces. The complexity of these
interactions makes the calculation of friction from first principles impractical and
necessitates the use of empirical methods for analysis and the development of theory.