Lecture 15.

Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
Lecture 15. friction cone.

Moment labeling of
Friction friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.

Some practical
Matthew T. Mason friction tricks.

Mechanics of Manipulation
Spring 2010
 Lecture 15.
Today’s outline Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.
Motivating friction.
Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
Coulomb’s Law. friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.
Friction angle, friction cone. Some practical
friction tricks.

Moment labeling of friction cone.

Static equilibrium problems.

Some practical friction tricks.

 Lecture 15.
How do you move things around? Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.
I Kinematics, kinematic constraint.
Static equilibrium
I Force. problems.

I Force of constraint; Some practical

friction tricks.
I Gravity;
I Friction;
I Momentum.
 Lecture 15.
How do you know where things are? Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.
I You put them somewhere, or Friction angle,
friction cone.
I you look at them. And then,
Moment labeling of
friction cone.
I they stay put.
Static equilibrium
problems.

Theorem (Liouville’s theorem) Some practical

friction tricks.

In a Hamiltonian system (including an energy-conserving

passive mechanical system) the uncertainty, measured
as a probability distribution in phase space, remains
constant as the system evolves.

Energy loss is essential.

Friction and plastic impact are essential.
 Lecture 15.
An alternative reality Friction

Motivating friction.
What would it be like to live in a world without friction? Coulomb’s Law.

I Grabbing anything would be like grabbing a bar of Friction angle,

friction cone.
soap. Moment labeling of
friction cone.
I No tables. Bowls? Tables with edges?
Static equilibrium
I Walking wouldn’t work. Drill footholds everywhere? problems.

(You’re stranded in the middle of a frozen pond, Some practical

friction tricks.
perfectly flat and frictionless. Q: How do you get to
shore? A: Throw one of your shoes to the opposite
shore.)
I What would feet and hands look like?
I With no gravity? Where do you look for lost items?
On the space shuttle, they find lost articles at the AC
intake grille.
 Lecture 15.
Overview Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.
I Friction is complex and difficult to model. Moment labeling of
friction cone.
I We will focus on simple approximations: generally, Static equilibrium
Coulomb’s law of sliding friction, with known uniform problems.

coefficient of friction. Some practical

friction tricks.
I Applied with common sense, this model is good
enough to explore problems, and perform useful
manipulation.
I But, know the limits.
 Lecture 15.
An experiment, in the style of Coulomb Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Clean surfaces, but not too Friction angle,

friction cone.
clean—dry, unlubricated. Moment labeling of
friction cone.
Pull on string with force fa , ff
fa
Static equilibrium
ramping up from 0. mg problems.

Some practical
Friction force ff will balance fa , up ff
friction tricks.

to a point.
µ s mg
Max ff when not moving: µs mg. µ d mg

Max ff when moving: µd mg.

fa

From now on we will assume

µs = µd = µ.
 Lecture 15.
Coulomb’s observations Friction

Coulomb conducted hundreds of experiments, and over a Motivating friction.

broad range of conditions he observed: Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
I Frictional force is approximately independent of friction cone.
contact area. Moment labeling of
friction cone.
I Frictional force is approximately independent of Static equilibrium
velocity magnitude. problems.

Some practical
I Coefficient of friction depends on pairs of materials. friction tricks.

Materials µ
metal on metal 0.15–0.6
rubber on concrete 0.6–0.9? 1.0–2.0?
plastic wrap on lettuce ∞
Leonardo’s number 0.25

(Do not believe these numbers!)

 Lecture 15.
Apply Coulomb’s law with care Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
I It holds over a broad range, but not nearly friction cone.

everywhere. Static equilibrium

problems.
I It is approximate. Some practical
friction tricks.
I Coefficients of friction tables are terrible.
I How can you use something so unreliable?
I But, how can you not use it?
 Lecture 15.
Contact modes Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
We can write Coulomb’s law: friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.
ẋ ẍ fn Static equilibrium
<0 ft = µfn left sliding problems.

>0 ft = −µfn right sliding x

Some practical
friction tricks.
= 0 < 0 ft = µfn left sliding ft

= 0 > 0 ft = −µfn right sliding

= 0 = 0 |ft | ≤ |µfn | rest
and define “contact mode” to be the right column—“left
sliding”, etc.
 Lecture 15.
Friction angle Friction

Block at rest on plane with angle Motivating friction.

α: Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
fn = mg cos α friction cone.

Moment labeling of
ft = mg sin α friction cone.
fn Static equilibrium
At rest |ft | ≤ µfn . Maximum α: problems.

Some practical
ft friction tricks.
ft = µfn

Substituting,

mg sin α = µmg cos α

α = tan−1 µ mg

Sometimes called the friction

angle or the angle of repose.
 Lecture 15.
Friction cone Friction

Motivating friction.

Definition Coulomb’s Law.

2 tané 1 µ Friction angle,
Define the friction cone to be the set of friction cone.

all wrenches satisfying Coulomb’s law fn Moment labeling of

friction cone.
for an object at rest, i.e. satisfying Static equilibrium
problems.

|ft | ≤ µ|fn | Some practical

ft friction tricks.

I The friction cone is a polyhedral convex cone in

wrench space.
I We can restate Coulomb’s law using contact modes
Left sliding: fn + ft ∈ right edge of friction cone
Right sliding: fn + ft ∈ left edge of friction cone
Rest: fn + ft ∈ friction cone
 Lecture 15.
Moment labeling of friction cone Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.

Some practical
Friction cone is positive linear friction tricks.

span of left edge unit vector and

right edge unit vector.

Moment labeling
 Lecture 15.
Static equilibrium problems. Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

I Given a mobile body, several frictional contacts, and Friction angle,

friction cone.
an applied force, is equilibrium possible? Moment labeling of
I Approach: use moment labelling to identify all friction cone.

feasible contact wrenches; test whether one of them Static equilibrium

problems.
balances the applied force.
Some practical
I Caveat A: Presence of balancing wrench in the cone friction tricks.

does not imply nature will select that wrench. See

the wedged plank example (static indeterminacy).
I Caveat B: Even if equilibrium is attained, stability
may not be. Stability requires more careful analysis,
depending on hypothesized disturbances.
 Lecture 15.
Pipe clamp design problem Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.
I Why does pipe clamp work?
Friction angle,
I Let diameter be 2 cm. friction cone.

Moment labeling of
I Let length be 2 cm. friction cone.

Static equilibrium
I Assume µ of 0.25. problems.

I Find min moment arm. Some practical

friction tricks.
I Extend to woodpecker toy?

fc1
f1 fa f2

fc2
 Lecture 15.
Block on table Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.

Some practical
friction tricks.
 Lecture 15.
Wedged plank and piranha Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.

Some practical
friction tricks.
 Lecture 15.
Triangle and three fingers. Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.

Moment labeling of
friction cone.

Static equilibrium
problems.

Some practical
friction tricks.
 Lecture 15.
Friction tricks Friction

Motivating friction.

Coulomb’s Law.

Friction angle,
friction cone.
I Measuring the coefficient of friction.
Moment labeling of
I Driving friction cone.

Static equilibrium
I Coulomb’s law doesn’t work so well for rubber on problems.
concrete; Some practical
I Theory suggests you don’t spin your wheels. But friction tricks.

sometimes, in snow or mud, spinning is a good idea.

I You can push a car sideways, if the wheels are
spinning, turning sliding friction into viscous friction.
I Reducing imprecision due to friction: dithering.
I Reducing imprecision due to friction: impact.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and
practice.
In practice, there is.—Anonymous