APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N.

Adhikari

FRICTION
Introduction
All the surfaces of the bodies are never perfectly smooth and there is some roughness and
irregularities in the body surface. If a block of one substance is placed over the level surface of
the same or different materials, a certain degree of interlocking of the minutely projecting
particles takes place. When one of the blocks moves or tends to move tangentially with respect to
the surface, on which it rests, the interlocking property of the projecting particles oppose the
motion. The opposing force which acts in the opposite direction of the movement of the block, is
called force of friction or simply friction.
Friction is the tangential force developed when the two surfaces are in contact and one body
surface attempts to move with respect to another.
It is limited in magnitude and can not prevent motion if large force is applied.
Frictionless and rough surfaces are made distinct by the matter of degree. Friction is not due to
matter of surface area but mainly by nature of surface and molecular attraction.

Types of friction and its coefficients

A) According to the medium of contact
i) Dry friction (coulomb friction)
The friction developed between rigid bodies in contact along non- lubricating
surfaces.
ii) Fluid friction
It is the friction developed between the layers of fluid moving with different
velocities.
B) According to the condition of rest or motion
i) Static friction
it is the tangential force developed between the rigid bodies in contact if external
force is applied remaining the condition of rest. Its value is maximum at the case
of impending motion.

Where, Fm = maximum friction

µs = coefficient of static friction
N = Normal reaction

ii) Dynamic friction

It is the tangential force developed between the rigid bodies in contact of external
force is applied sending the bodies in motion. Its value is lower than the
maximum friction.

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

Where, Fk = kinetic/ dynamic friction

µk = coefficient of kinetic friction

Mechanism of Dry Friction

Fig. illustration of no motion and motion

 Block of weight W placed on horizontal surface. Forces acting on block are its weight and
reaction of surface N.
 Small horizontal force P applied to block. For block to remain stationary, in equilibrium,
a horizontal component F of the surface reaction is required. F is a Static-Friction force.
 As P increases, static-friction force F increases as well until it reaches a maximum value
Fm.

 Further increase in P causes the block to begin to move as F drops to a smaller Kinetic-
Friction force Fk.

Where, Fk = kinetic/ dynamic friction

µk = coefficient of kinetic friction

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

Fig. load friction graph

Laws of friction

A) For static friction

1) The direction of frictional force is always opposite to the direction of the motion of the
body and it acts along the common surfaces of two bodies.
2) The friction is self adjusting force as long as the body is at rest.
3) There is limit to which frictional force can rise and balance the externally applied force
and beyond that, it remains constant which is known as limiting friction.
4) The limiting friction is not dependent on the area and its shape provides the normal
reaction unchanged.
5) The magnitude of limiting friction force bears a constant ratio to the normal reaction.
6) Limiting friction force depends upon the roughness of contact and which also depends
upon the type of material in contact.

B) For kinetic friction

1) The direction of kinetic friction is always in opposite direction of the moving body and it
acts along the common contact surface of the bodies.
2) Kinetic friction magnitude is little less than limiting friction.
3) The magnitude of kinetic friction bears a constant ratio with normal reaction.
4) Sliding friction (kinetic friction) is dependent of the motion of the body.

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

Coulomb’s law of friction (Coulomb 1781)

By experiment on blocks on flat surface tending to move without rotation or actually moving
without or actually moving without rotation. Coulomb presented the following conclusions
known as Coulomb’s law of friction.
1) The total force of friction that can be developed is independent of the magnitude of the
area of contact.
2) For low relative velocities between sliding objects, the frictional force is practically
independent of velocity. However, the sliding frictional force is less than frictional force
corresponding to the impending slippage.
3) The total frictional force that can be developed is proportional to the normal force
transmitted across the surface of contact.

Angle of friction

The angle φ that R forms with the normal reaction is known as angle of friction.

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

Sometimes convenient to replace normal force N & friction force F by their resultant R

Consider block of weight W resting on board with variable inclination angle θ.

Angle of Repose = Angle of Static Friction

Explanation
It is sometimes convenient to replace the normal force N and the friction force F by their
resultant R. Let us consider again a block of weight W resting on a horizontal plane surface.
 If no horizontal force is applied to the block, the resultant R reduces to the normal force
N.
 However, if the applied force P has a horizontal component Px which tends to move the
block, the force R will have a horizontal component F and, thus, will form an angle Ф
with the normal to the surface.
 If Px is increased until motion becomes impending, the angle between R and the vertical
grows and reaches a maximum value. This value is called the angle of static friction and
is denoted by Фs.
From the geometry of fig., we note that

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

 If motion actually takes place, the magnitude of the friction force drops to Fk; similarly,
the angle Ф between R and N drops to a lower value Фk, called the angle of kinetic
friction.
From the geometry of Fig., we write

Conditions
1) No friction
Self-weight W and applied force P both are vertical i.e. there is no horizontal component
of force.
2) No motion
Here, applied force P is in the inclined position as shown in fig. The angle between N and
resultant R is less than angle of static friction Фs. There is only friction but no motion.
The point of application of the resultant force shifts to the right end of the block in this
case.
3) Impending motion
As Px increase gradually as shown in figure, the resultant R also increases and the angle
becomes Фs. The point of application of the resultant further shifts to the rightward. This
is the condition of impending motion or critical condition before motion.
4) Motion
As Px is further increased, a condition will occur in which the block will be in motion.
The corresponding frictional force is Fk and angle is Фk as shown in figure.

Condition of tipping and sliding of the block.

As the magnitude of frictional force (F) increases from 0 to Fs, the point of application of the
resultant R moves towards right end of the block (since the applied force P is directed to
rightward), so that the couples formed by P, F and W, N remain balanced. If R reaches B ( end of
block) before F reaches its maximum value Fs or Fm, the block will tip about end point before
sliding.

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APPLIED MECHANICS - I Er. Prem N. Adhikari

Advantages of friction
 Friction makes many types of motion possible.
 If you are walking or running, you use friction with the ground to move your body
forward, to turn left or right or to stop.
 Brakes on vehicle use friction to stop the vehicles.
 It is the resistance force and helps to prevent slipping or sliding.
Disadvantages of friction
 The force of friction acts in the opposite direction that the object is moving, so friction
slow down the motion of moving objects.
 Friction also produces unnecessary heat, for example car engine becomes hotter because
of friction.
 Any device that has moving parts can wear out an object rapidly due to friction.
 Makes difficult to slide or move an object.

Dry friction between two blocks in contact