Proceedings of SerbiaTrib '13

Serbian TribologySocietySERBIATRIB ‘1313 th International Conference onTribologyKragujevac, Serbia, 15 – 17 May 2013Faculty of Engineeringin KragujevacTRIBOLOGICAL ASPECT OF RUBBER BASED PARTS USED INENGINEERINGDušan Stamenković 1 , Milan Nikolić 1 , Miloš Milošević 1Milan Banić 1 , Aleksandar Miltenović 1 , Miroslav Mijajlović 11 University of Niš, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš, Serbiadusans@masfak.ni.ac.rs, milan.nikolic.nis@gmail.com, mmilos@masfak.ni.ac.rs, milan.banic@outlook.com,amiltenovic@yahoo.com, mijajlom@masfak.ni.ac.rsAbstract: In most of the cases, the friction is considered as a negative side-effect concerning energyloss following every process of the power transmission. However, the friction has significantpositive side effects, because it is an indispensable prerequisite for the movement of people,machines, transportation means and others. Efficiency of these movements mostly depends on thefriction between rubber and different materials such as metals, concrete, earth, wood, plastic, etc.Certain standards relating to measurement and determination of the friction characteristics ofrubber were established. However considering that tribology of the rubber is very complexproblem, numerous studies around the world are conducted. This paper gives an overview of someof the existing standards and conducted researches in this area. The paper also provides anoverview of theoretical and experimental studies of friction the rubber and the other materials,which are done at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš.Keywords: coefficient of static friction, rubber, tribology, slip resistance, standards.1. INTRODUCTIONMovement can be realized only and merely bythe friction, but during a motion, frictionpermanently causes different kinds of losses(energy dissipation, mass loss, movement loss).Therefore, friction is the process where positive andnegative effects manifest both. In a certainsituation, a large friction force is required, but inother situation small friction force is required.Because of that, understanding the tribologicalinteractions between the shoe and the floormaterials is important in order to enhance shoe andfloor design and to prevent slip and fall accidentsduring walking.Since the coefficient of friction measurementswere commonly adopted to evaluate slip potentials,it has been found that there were controversies inthe interpretation of measurement results. The study[1] was principally focused on broadening theknowledge base and developing new ideas onwhich improvements in the validity and reliabilityof slip resistance measurements might be made. Toachieve this goal, crucial problems on the currentconcept of slip resistance measurement wereextensively analysed by a tribological point of viewwhere principle of understanding the shoe-floorfriction and wear phenomena could be made. Basedon this approach, new theoretical models weresuggested in paper [1].This study discussed the limitations of presentconcept on slip resistance measurements andanalysed the seriousness of misinterpretations onslip resistance properties that were mainly causedby over-simplified conceptions on frictionphenomena between the shoe heels and floorsurfaces. Based on those critical analyses, a newparadigm on friction and wear phenomena betweenthe shoes and floors was proposed for the futureresearches on the slip resistance measurements.On the basis of totality of the experimental andthe simulation results as well as concepts somerecommendations for dealing with the tribology ofpolymer-based composites – in instruction as wellas industrial and research setting – are made in thepaper [2].302 13 th International Conference on Tribology – Serbiatrib’13