The effect of frequency of vibration and humidity on the coefficient of friction

Variation of friction coefficient with the variation of frequency of vibration and relative humidity is investigated experimentally on a mild steel disc. A pin-on-disc apparatus having facility of vibrating the disc at different frequency and amplitude is used for the experiment. During the experiment, normal load, speed and relative humidity were varied. The surface conditions of the mild steel base plate were 'as-turned' and 'as-ground'. It is found that friction co-efficient under no vibration condition is higher than that under vibration condition, and the values of friction co-efficient decrease with the increase of frequency of vibration. Similarly, the friction coefficient decreases with the increase of relative humidity. It is also observed that the rate of reduction of friction co-efficient has a particular relationship with the frequency of vibration and the relative humidity. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.