First experimental results with an apparatus for friction measurements

The static and dynamic coefficients of friction (CoF) are very often required for design and verification of machine components and systems. Unfortunately, their values for the specific application are hardly available since the CoF is affected by several factors. The most important ones are the contact conditions (conformal or non-conformal, dry or lubricated), the coupling materials and the surface topography. Moreover, it is well known that the values of the CoF depend also on the experimental conditions and apparatus used. In order to investigate the factors affecting the CoF, a simple modular experimental apparatus has been developed, capable to perform tests for the estimation of both static and dynamic CoFs. This study describes some first results obtained with the apparatus.