Experimental and numerical evaluation of lubricated friction of EPDM rubber

Abstract

Lubricated friction between an EPDM rubber plate and a hemispherical steel counter surface was studied both with experimental and numerical methods. The dependence of the coefficient of friction on the normal load and the sliding velocity were investigated by a series of tests, under lubricated friction condition. The experimental setup was then modeled with finite elements, and calculations were done assuming different sliding velocities. The numerical simulation was able to model the dependence of the penetration depth of the counter surface and the size of contact area on the sliding velocity. The calculated coefficient of friction vs. sliding velocity curve shows a good agreement with the measured results.