Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Characteristics of Dry Friction

Characteristics of Dry Friction

Dry friction occurs when two solid surfaces slide against each other without any lubrication or fluid present. It causes resistance when pushing objects along a surface, like a gardener pushing a wheelbarrow. The force applied to move the cart causes dry friction between the wheel and the ground.
Before the wheelbarrow starts moving, the static frictional force acts tangentially to the contact surface, opposing the force that is about to induce the motion. This frictional force prevents the...

Dry Friction

Dry Friction

Dry friction occurs between two solid surfaces in contact as they attempt to move relative to one another. In daily life, dry friction is encountered in various forms, such as when walking on the ground, sliding an object across a table, or rubbing hands together. Despite its ubiquity, the underlying mechanisms behind dry friction are not readily visible.
To illustrate this concept, imagine a wooden crate resting on a rough, non-uniform horizontal surface. When an external force is applied to...

Frictional Force

Frictional Force

When a body is in motion, it encounters resistance because the body interacts with its surroundings. This resistance is known as friction, a common yet complex force whose behavior is still not completely understood. Friction opposes relative motion between systems in contact, but also allows us to move. Friction arises in part due to the roughness of surfaces in contact. For one object to move along a surface, it must rise to where the peaks of the surface can skip along the bottom of the...

Kinetic Friction

Kinetic Friction

Consider a truck trying to pull a stationary car. As the truck exerts a force on the car, static friction is created at the point of contact between the two surfaces. This frictional force resists the car's movement and keeps it at rest. However, when the applied force by the truck surpasses the limiting static frictional force, an interesting phenomenon occurs. The frictional force at the interface reduces to a lower value, known as the kinetic frictional force. At this point, the car begins...

Types of Friction Problems

Types of Friction Problems

Friction is an essential concept in physics, engineering, and everyday life. It is the force that opposes the relative motion or tendency of such motion between two surfaces in contact. One of the most common types of friction encountered in various applications is dry friction. Dry friction problems can be broadly categorized into three types, each with unique characteristics and challenges.
The first type of dry friction problem involves situations where there is no apparent impending motion.

Drag

Drag

Drag is a resistive force opposing an object’s motion through a fluid, resulting from surface pressure and shear forces. It comprises two components: a perpendicular one from pressure and a tangential one from shear stress. Accurate drag calculations use pressure and wall shear stress distributions, often determined through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or wind tunnel testing. The drag coefficient, a dimensionless measure, depends on factors like shape, Reynolds number, Mach number, Froude...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Simple Mechanism for the Observed Breakdown of the Nernst-Einstein Relation for Ions in Carbon Nanotubes.

Physical review letters·2024

Same author

Theory of the force of friction acting on water chains flowing through carbon nanotubes.

Physical review. E·2023

Same author

Electrical image potential and solvation energies for an ion in a pore in a metallic electrode or in a nanotube.

Physical review. E·2022

Same author

Effects of electrical image potentials and solvation energy on salt ions near a metallic or dielectric wall.

The European physical journal. E, Soft matter·2021

Same author

Droplet evaporation residue indicating SARS-COV-2 survivability on surfaces.

Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994)·2021

Same author

Enhancement of the ion concentration in a salt solution near a wall due to electrical image potentials and enhancement of surface tension due to the presence of salt.

Physical review. E·2020

Same journal

Tension on dsDNA bound to ssDNA-RecA filaments may play an important role in driving efficient and accurate homology recognition and strand exchange.

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

Same journal

Publisher's Note: Amplitude-phase coupling drives chimera states in globally coupled laser networks [Phys. Rev. E 91, 040901(R) (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

Same journal

Erratum: Shapes of sedimenting soft elastic capsules in a viscous fluid [Phys. Rev. E 92, 033003 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

Same journal

Erratum: Attenuation of excitation decay rate due to collective effect [Phys. Rev. E 90, 022142 (2014)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

Same journal

Publisher's Note: Role of connectivity and fluctuations in the nucleation of calcium waves in cardiac cells [Phys. Rev. E 92, 052715 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

Same journal

Publisher's Note: Lattice Boltzmann approach for complex nonequilibrium flows [Phys. Rev. E 92, 043308 (2015)].

Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics·2016

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Knowledge Based Cloud FE Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Processes

Knowledge Based Cloud FE Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Processes

Published on: December 13, 2016

Surface roughness and dry friction.

¹Department of Physics and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|April 3, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Dry friction, or kinetic friction at low velocities, is common for self-affine surfaces due to interatomic repulsion. This phenomenon is expected unless surfaces are extremely smooth, approaching a Hurst index of 1.

More Related Videos

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications

Published on: August 15, 2018

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Published on: December 24, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 23, 2026

Knowledge Based Cloud FE Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Processes

Knowledge Based Cloud FE Simulation of Sheet Metal Forming Processes

Published on: December 13, 2016

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications

Published on: August 15, 2018

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Published on: December 24, 2014

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Tribology
Surface Physics

Background:

Understanding friction at the nanoscale is crucial for predicting material behavior.
Self-affine surfaces and interatomic forces significantly influence contact mechanics.
Existing models may not fully capture friction at extremely low velocities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the occurrence of "dry friction" in self-affine surfaces.
To determine the conditions under which dry friction is expected.
To explore the role of interatomic repulsion and surface smoothness.

Main Methods:

Utilizing Persson's multiscale contact mechanics theory.
Applying a multiscale Brillouin-Prandtl-Tomlinson model.
Analyzing the influence of interatomic hard core repulsion on friction.

Main Results:

"Dry friction" is predicted to occur for most self-affine surfaces.
This phenomenon is dominant when interatomic hard core repulsion is the primary interaction.
An exception is observed for surfaces with very high smoothness (Hurst index near 1).

Conclusions:

The models suggest "dry friction" is a widespread behavior for contacting self-affine surfaces.
Surface topography (self-affinity) and interaction forces (hard core repulsion) are key determinants.
Friction behavior deviates from this general trend only for exceptionally smooth surfaces.