Sealing is at the origin of rubber slipping on wet roads
Source abstract
Abstract
Loss of braking power and rubber skidding on a wet road is still an open physics problem, as neither the hydrodynamic effects nor the loss of surface adhesion that are sometimes blamed really manage to explain the 20-30% observed loss of low-speed tyre-road friction. Here we report a novel mechanism based on sealing of water-filled substrate pools by the rubber. The sealed-in water effectively smoothens the substrate, thus reducing the viscoelastic dissipation in bulk rubber induced by surface asperities-well established as a major friction contribution. Starting with the measured spectrum of asperities one can calculate the water-smoothened spectrum and from that the predicted friction reduction, which is of the correct magnitude. The theory is directly supported by fresh tyre-asphalt friction data.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions · Brake Systems and Friction Analysis · Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (14)
Show source-provided references
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