SOME NEW EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ON THE SCHALLAMACH WAVES PROPAGATION BYSPACE-TIME ANALYSIS

The mechanisms of the sliding friction of rubber-like materials are st udied on a microscale level, by scrutinising phenomena occurring insid e contact area between a moving hard transparent spherical asperity an d the smooth, flat surface of a soft elastomer sample. We study experi mentally the behaviour of the detachment fold or Schallamach waves (Sh allamach, A. Wear 1971 17, 301-312) when the rubber temperature varies between 20 and 42 degrees C. Our analysis is based on the space-time evolution diagrams, composed by superimposition of contact area cross- sections, recorded one after the other. We aimed to demonstrate how th e application of this method does permit us to obtain the results in r eal time. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.