Friction and Statics – Some information

Rolling without slipping is a form of motion we use in everyday life, for example, driving a car. There is a static
friction at point of contact between the tyre and road. This frictional force acts at a moment arm equal to the
radius of the wheel, thereby creating a frictional torque. On the other hand, the power coming from the engine
is transmitted to the axle which rotates the wheel. This force acts at a moment arm equal to the axle shaft
radius, creating a driving torque. If at any point of time, the driving torque becomes more than the frictional
torque, the wheel would start slipping instead of rolling without slipping (Imagine driving on an icy road or
getting stuck in mud).

𝑣
𝜏 =𝐹 Xr
𝜏 =𝐹 XR
𝐹
r 𝜏 >𝜏 results in slip
𝑣

Give some thought to why the static friction is

R pointing in the same direction as of the motion?
𝐹
Exercise 1
Assume you meet a person using a wheelchair at the accessathon. The coefficient of static friction
between his wheelchair‘s tyre and the tiles is µ = 0.4. The person’s mass is 70 kg and that of the
wheelchair is 10 kg.

a) What’s the maximum linear acceleration this person could achieve (assuming that his arms are
powerful enough to produce the force required to reach this acceleration)?
Hint: The weight of the wheelchair and person (the effective normal load) is equally distributed on both wheels and thus both
wheels will experience half of the total friction force. Assume g = 10 m/s^2.

b) Assume that you have to design one prosthetic arm for the same person using the same
wheelchair. The wheel diameter is 50 cm and the distance from where the prosthetic arm has
gripped the wheel to where it is fixed on the real forearm is 30 cm. The person wants to reach an
acceleration of 1.5 m/s^2. What is the bending moment acting at the junction of the prosthetic
arm to the real arm? What are the other shear or normal forces acting at this junction’s cross
section? (Neglect any forces involved in gripping the wheel).
Exercise 2: Lift, lift coefficient and AoA
a) An albatross with a mass of 8.5 kilos an a wingspan of 3 m wants to maintain equilibrium in straight
and level flight at an altitude of 20 m above the sea level, cruising at a speed of 25 m/s. Consider its
wings to be rectangular with a width of 30 cm and its cross sectional shape to be an airfoil. What
should be the angle of attack (AoA) of its wings so that the bird can maintain equilibrium? You‘ll need
to know the relationship between lift coefficient and angle of attack which can be obtained from the
chart on the next page.
b) At what velocity the albatross should be flying to maintain a 0° of angle of attack?
c) General question – In order to obtain more lift, birds increase the angle of attack of their wings.
Sometimes, it causes their feathers to delaminate and flutter. What do you think is the reason for this
phenomenon?
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Problem 3.5. Please solve till (d)
 Amazing Albatross!

Flying with almost no energy expenditure:

Albatross are very interesting birds from a flight
mechanics perspective. They use a particular flight
manuover called the dynamic soaring. They fly for
tens of hours without having to flap their wings
almost ever. What makes this energy less flying
possible?
Some explanation is, they do not fly at the same
altitude for a long time. They use the on coming
high velocity winds to rise up and reach the
maximum possible flight velocity at that wind
speed. Then they turn themselves towards the
leeward side and begin a leeward descend, turn
again towards the windward side and begin the
windward ascend again. All this without flapping
the wings even once!!
Some interesting links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_eMQvDoDWk – How airfoils work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUehWUoiPHQ – How flaps work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZClP-m9g24 – Bernoulli lecture with practical examples