Memory Effects in Friction: The role of sliding Heterogeneities

Vincenzo Fazio (1) , Vito Acito (1) , Fabien Amiot (2) , Christian Fretigny (1) , Antoine Chateauminois (1)

1 SIMM - Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle (UMR 7615)
2 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)

We report on memory effects involved in the transient frictional response of a contact interface between a silicone rubber and a spherical glass probe when it is perturbed by changes in the orientation of the driving motion or by velocity steps. From measurements of the displacement fields at the interface, we show that observed memory effects can be accounted for by the non-uniform distribution of the sliding velocity within the contact interface. As a consequence of these memory effects, the friction force may no longer be aligned with respect to the sliding trajectory. In addition, stick-slip motions with a purely geometrical origin are also evidenced. These observations are adequately accounted for by a friction model which takes into account heterogeneous displacements within the contact area. When a velocity dependence of the frictional stress is incorporated in this the model, transient regimes induced by velocity steps are also adequately described. The good agreement between the model and experiments outlines the role of space heterogeneities in memory effects involved in soft matter friction.

Mots clés: transient friction; rubber; velocity jumps; curvilinear motions

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Vincenzo Fazio, Vito Acito, Fabien Amiot, Christian Fretigny, Antoine Chateauminois. Memory Effects in Friction: The role of sliding Heterogeneities. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and physical sciences, 2021, 477 (2256), ⟨10.1098/rspa.2021.0559⟩. ⟨hal-03355626v2⟩