Friction of a Steel Ball on a Single Crystal of Ice

Abstract This paper presents the results of a study carried out to explain the low friction on ice. Friction of a steel ball on a single crystal of ice was measured as a function of load, velocity, temperature, and diameter of slider. It was found that even when the velocity was very small (1.5 - 10...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Glaciology
Main Author: Tusima, Katutosi
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1977
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000029300
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000029300
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Summary:Abstract This paper presents the results of a study carried out to explain the low friction on ice. Friction of a steel ball on a single crystal of ice was measured as a function of load, velocity, temperature, and diameter of slider. It was found that even when the velocity was very small (1.5 - 10 -7 to 1.8-10 –3 m/s) the coefficient of friction was very small ranging from 0.005 to 0.2, although friction on the prismatic plane was twice as large as that on the basal plane. The coefficient of friction increased with load, which means that Amonton’s classical law of friction is not applicable to ice. The coefficient of friction increased with decreasing velocity, which may result from the creep of ice in the contact area. The friction strongly increased as the temperature became close to °C. A minimum friction was observed for a definite temperature. It was found that the explanation of the results obtained is given satisfactorily neither by the classic pressure-melting theory nor by the friction-melting theory, but only by adhesion theory.