EMT 1141 ENGINEERING MECHANICS -

STATICS

FRICTION
 Introduction
Friction forces are present through nature and exist in all machines no matter how
accurately constructed or carefully lubricated.
A machine or process in which friction is small enough to be neglected is said to be
ideal.
When friction must be taken into account, the machine or process is termed real.

Definition
Friction may be defined as a force of resistance acting on a body which prevents or
inhibits any possible slipping of the body.
This force always acts tangent to the surface at points of contact with other bodies
and is directed so as to oppose the possible or existing motion of the body at these
points.
Importance of friction
Friction is a nuisance in most situations and efforts are always made to reduce it in
for example bearings, power screws, gears, flow of fluids e.t.c
Friction is desirable in certain aspects and in such situations it is always desirable to
increase it e.g. in clutches, belt drives, wedges, footwear e.t.c.
Types of friction
i. Dry friction (exists on unlubricated surfaces )
ii. Fluid friction (contacting surfaces are separated by a film of fluid, either gas or
liquid)
iii. Internal friction.(Occurs in all solid materials subjected to

• cyclic loading )

NB: fluid friction and internal friction are dealt with in fluid mechanics and strength of
materials. Our focus will be on dry friction
Dry friction
Dry friction exists when unlubricated surfaces of two solids or rigid bodies are in contact under
conditions of sliding or tendency to slide.
It is also known as “Coulomb friction” since its characteristics were extensively studied by C.A.
Coulomb in 1781.
Theory of dry friction
Consider a block of uniform weight W resting on a rough horizontal floor and the effects that are
caused by pulling horizontally by a force P.
As shown in the fbd, the floor exerts a normal force and a frictional force along the contacting
surface. Where N is the normal force, W is the weight of the block and F= frictional force
 Theory of dry friction
Provided the block does not slip, any increase in P causes a corresponding increase
in x and as a result, this tends to concentrate the distribution of the normal force
further towards the blocks right corner, thereby increasing the chance of tipping.

Indeed tipping occurs if the contacting surface is rough enough to hold the block
from slipping and the applied force P = Pt ≥(W/ℎ)(𝑎/2) where x = 𝑎/2.
For impending motion, in cases where h is small, or the surfaces of contact are
slippery, the frictional force F may not be great enough to balance the magnitude of P
and consequently the block will tend to slip before it can tip.

Close examination of the contacting surfaces shows that each surface has many
protuberances (irregularities) that interlock preventing the tendency of the two
surfaces slipping over each other, as shown in the figure below. The larger W is, the
more the depth of these protuberances lock into each other. This increases the force
P required to move the surfaces over each other
Theory of dry friction
 Theory of dry friction
Impending motion
As the magnitude of the pulling force P is slowly increased from zero, the magnitude of friction force F
increases until it attains a maximum value Fs called the limiting static frictional force. When this value is
reached, the body is in unstable equilibrium since anyfurther increase in P will cause motion.
Experimentally, it has been established that the magnitude of the limiting static force Fs is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the resultant normal force N.
Fs a N OR Fs = µS N µS is the coefficient of static friction.

Motion
When P becomes greater than Fs the frictional force between the contacting surfaces drops slightly to a
smaller value Fk called the kinetic frictional force. When P>Fs the body begins to slide with increasing
speed. Experiments have established that:
Fk a N OR Fk = µK N µK is the coefficient of kinetic (or dynamic) friction.
The block will not be held in equilibrium (P>Fk) instead, it begins to slide with increasing speed. Typical
values of µK are approximately 25% smaller than µS
 Theory of dry friction
Angle of friction

The frictional force acting at a contacting surface is determined from Fk = µK N only if relative
motion is occurring between the two surfaces.

If two bodies are stationary, the magnitude of the frictional force, F does not necessarily equal µS
N; instead, F must satisfy the inequality F≤ µS N. Only when impending motion occurs does F
reach the upper limit F=Fs= µS N. consider the blocks shown below.

For equilibrium, the normal force N and frictional force Fs combine to create resultant Rs.
The angle ΦS that Rs makes with N is called the angle of static friction or the angle of repose.
 Theory of dry friction
For equilibrium, the normal force N and frictional force Fs combine to create resultant Rs.
The angle ΦS that Rs makes with N is called the angle of static friction or the angleof repose. From the figure:

If a body is not in motion, any horizontal force P < Fs causes a resultant R which has a line of action directed at
angle Φ from the vertical such that Φ < ΦS.

If P creates motion of the body, then P> Fs (but P ≥ Fk). In this case, the resultant Rk has a line of action
defined by ΦK. This angle is referred to as the angle of kinetic friction.

If F≤ µS N, F must be determined from equations of equilibrium and its sense isestablished after the
equilibrium equations are solved
 Characteristics of Dry Friction.
The following rules which apply to bodies subjected to dry friction.
The frictional force acts tangent to the contacting surfaces in a direction opposed to the
motion or tendency for motion of one surface relative to another.
The maximum static frictional force Fs that can be developed is independent of the area of
contact, provided the normal pressure is not very low nor great enough to severely deform or
crush the contacting surfaces of the bodies.

The maximum static frictional force is generally greater than the kinetic frictional force for
any two surfaces of contact. However, if one of the bodies is moving with a very low velocity
over the surface of another, Fk becomes approximately equal to Fs, i.e., µs ~ µk.

When slipping at the surface of contact is about to occur, the maximum static frictional force
is proportional to the normal force, such that Fs = µsN.
When slipping at the surface of contact is occurring, the kinetic
frictional force is proportional to the normal force, such that Fk= µk N.
 Example 1
Determine the minimum horizontal force P required to hold the
crate from sliding down the plane. The crate has a mass of 50 kg
and the coefficient of static friction between the crate and the
plane is 𝜇𝑠 = 0.25.
Example 1
 Example 2
Determine the minimum force P required to push the crate up the
plane. The crate has a mass of 50 kg and the coefficient of static friction
between the crate and the plane is 𝜇𝑠= 0.25.
Example 2
 Example 3
Determine the friction developed between the 50kg crate and the ground
if a) P = 200 N, and b) P = 400 N. The coefficients of static and kinetic
friction between the crate and the ground are µs = 0.3 and µk = 0.2.
Solutions
 Exercise 1
Determine the magnitude and direction of the friction force acting on the
100kg block if a) P= 500N and b) P= 100N. The coefficient of static
friction is 0.2 and the coefficient kinetic friction 0.17. The forces are
applied with the block at rest.
 Solutions
Applying the eqns of equilibrium

Case I: P=500 N
+ SFY=0, N-PSin20-981Cos20° = 0
N= 1093 N
+→ SFX=0, PCos20 - F-9812sin 20° = 0

F=134.3 N
Fmax = 𝜇𝑠N
= 0.2 x 1093
=219 N
Since Fmax is greater than F, Then The required Frictional
Force is 134.3 N down the plane
Applying the eqns of equilibrium Solutions
Case II: P=100 N
+ SFY=0, N-PSin20-981Cos20° = 0
N= 956 N
+→ SFX=0, PCos20 - F-9812sin 20° = 0

F=-242 N(-Ve sign means F acts upwards)

Fmax = 𝜇𝑠N
= 0.2 x 956
=191.2 N
Equilibrium cant exist, therefore the block will slide downwards, hence the
required frictional force is kinetic frictional force
Fk = 𝜇kN
= 0.17 x 956
=191.2 N (Up the plane)
 Exercise 2
If the coefficient of static friction between the crate of 150kg and the
ground is 𝜇𝑠 = 0.3 , determine the minimum coefficient of static friction
between the man’s shoes and the ground so that the man of 80kg can
move the crate.
Solutions

𝜇𝑠 = Fm / Nm
= 0.38
 Quiz
The crate shown in the figure below has a mass of 20Kg. determine the
force P such that the crate is on the verge of moving up the plane and
show if the crate will tip over. The coefficient of static friction is 𝜇𝑆 = 0.3