Acoustics of friction

This article presents an overview of the acoustics of friction by covering friction sounds, friction-induced vibrations and waves in solids, and descriptions of other frictional phenomena related to acoustics. Friction, resulting from the sliding contact of solids, often gives rise to diverse forms of waves and oscillations within solids which frequently lead to radiation of sound to the surrounding media. Among the many everyday examples of friction sounds, violin music and brake noise in automobiles represent the two extremes in terms of the sounds they produce and the mechanisms by which they are generated. Of the multiple examples of friction sounds in nature, insect sounds are prominent. Friction also provides a means by which energy dissipation takes place at the interface of solids. Friction damping that develops between surfaces, such as joints and connections, in some cases requires only microscopic motion to dissipate energy. Modeling of friction-induced vibrations and friction damping in mechanical systems requires an accurate description of friction for which only approximations exist. While many of the components that contribute to friction can be modeled, computational requirements become prohibitive for their contemporaneous calculation. Furthermore, quantification of friction at the atomic scale still remains elusive. At the atomic scale, friction becomes a mechanism that converts the kinetic energy associated with the relative motion of surfaces to thermal energy. However, the description of the conversion to thermal energy represented by a disordered state of oscillations of atoms in a solid is still not well understood. At the macroscopic level, friction interacts with the vibrations and waves that it causes. Such interaction sets up a feedback between the friction force and waves at the surfaces, thereby making friction and surface motion interdependent. Such interdependence forms the basis for friction-induced motion as in the case of ultrasonic motors and other examples. Last, when considered phenomenologically, friction and boundary layer turbulence exhibit analogous properties and, when compared, each may provide clues to a better understanding of the other.