The onset condition of friction noise in ball joint under concentric loading

This study provides the general methodology describing the propensity of friction noise in ball joint system. The dynamic ball joint model is theoretically proposed under the concentric loading condition with nonlinear friction curve. In ball joint system, contact condition becomes non-conformal due to clearance between the ball head and cup. The results from stability analysis reveal that the ball joint system becomes dynamically unstable under the sufficiently small contact area and a negative friction-velocity slope. It is also shown that the lower bending modes of the beam have the higher propensity for modal instability. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.