15-Frictional Properties of Fibers.

Frictional Properties of Fibers

Why important…..???
• Frictional properties of fibers are important because they affect the
processing, structure and properties of all fiber-based products.
• For example, friction is the force that holds the fibers together in yarns and
fabrics. If there is not sufficient friction, the strength and structural integrity of
yarns and fabrics will be lost.
• However, if the friction is too high, it could cause equipment failure, fiber
surface damage, and even fiber breakage.
Why important…..???
• In addition to these two examples where friction is clearly an advantage or a

disadvantage, there are many other properties of fiber-based products that are
affected by friction.
• Examples are:
• increase wear resistance of fibers and fabrics with increase in friction,
• draping of fabrics improves with low friction,
• the formation of nonwovens is improved with more friction, etc.
Amontons’ Law
About 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci recognized two basic laws of friction:
• The friction force is independent of the contact area between two surfaces.
• The friction force is proportional to the normal force between the two surfaces in contact.
Schematic of loading force, normal force, and the resultant frictional force.
Amontons’ Law
These two laws were later rediscovered by Amontons in 1699 and are expressed mathematically by
using the so-called Amontons’ law:
where F is the externally applied loading force, N the normal force, and μ the coefficient of friction.
• The friction behavior of polymer fibers does not follow the Amontons’ law.
Static Friction vs. Kinetic Friction
• Static friction force is equal and opposite to the applied loading force up to a maximum static
friction force, and no acceleration or movement occurs below the maximum force. According to the
Amontons’ law, static frictional force is proportional to the normal force pushing the two surfaces
together:
where Fs,max is the maximum static friction force, and μs the coefficient of static friction.
• kinetic friction is the force resisting continued sliding.
where Fk is the kinetic friction force, and μk the coefficient of kinetic friction.
• For most materials, the kinetic friction coefficient is independent of the

sliding speed and is smaller than the static friction coefficient.
• The friction force (FA) is zero since there is
no attempted motion. FB is equal to the
Fs,max
• FC is smaller than FB since the kinetic
friction coefficient is smaller than the static
friction coefficient.
• The applied force must be reduced so it is
equal and opposite to the friction force (FD).
• If the applied force continues to decrease
and becomes smaller than the friction force
(FE), the object starts to slow down.
• Both FD and FE are equal to FC since the

kinetic friction coefficient is independent of
Nature of Friction
• Friction force is related to the irregular structure of material
surfaces. On the microscale, almost all surfaces are
irregular, and true surface contacts only occur at the tips of
the asperities.
Nature of Friction
• Surfaces touch at the high points where considerable compressive and

shear stresses lead to plastic deformation.
• The plastic deformation is the major cause of the friction between two
surfaces. The energy associated with the plastic deformation cause
localized heating causing welding of the two surfaces.
• In addition, the energy associated with the plastic deformation also
facilitates the diffusion of atoms or molecules between the surfaces.
• This welding or adhesion process also contributes to the friction.
Nature of Friction
• Therefore, the total frictional force is the sum of two terms:

the force of deformation and the force of adhesion.
• The magnitude of deformation depends on the mechanical properties of
the surface materials.
Nature of Friction
• Under a fixed normal force, the contacting tips will continue to deform until the pressure at the
points of contact becomes equal to the yield stress.
• The yield pressure (Py) can be expressed:
where N is the normal force, and A the true contact area

Nature of Friction
• The Equation can be rewritten to give the true contact area of the two surfaces:
• When the deformation occurs, the generated energy allows the diffusion of atoms or molecules
between the surfaces, creating welded junctions. To allow sliding, these joints must be broken
by shear stress. To resist the shear stress, the friction force (F) is generated and can be
calculated by:
• where τ* is the shear strength of the weaker material of the two surfaces.
Nature of Friction
• The Equation can be rewritten as:
• Since both τ* and Py are constants, so coefficient of friction is:
• Therefore, the coefficient of friction is determined by the yield pressure and shear
strength of the weaker material.
FIBER-ON-FIBER FRICTION
Friction Coefficient
• The friction between fibers is essential to keep the strength and integrity of yarns and nonwovens.
• The fiber-on-fiber friction force is the sum of the force of deformation and the force of adhesion.
• The difference between the static

and kinetic friction coefficients
affects the feel of the fibers.
Fibers with large differences
have coarse, crunchy feel.
Factors Affecting Friction Coefficient
Normal Force
• One important factor that affects the fiber-on-fiber friction is the normal force. According to the
Amontons’ law, the friction coefficient should be a constant and is independent of the normal force.
However, the fiber-on-fiber friction does not obey the Amontons’ law.
• The friction coefficient of fibers decreases with increase in Effect of normal force on the
friction coefficient between
normal force. This behavior may be explained by the visco-
polymer fibers
elastic deformation of surface asperities on fibers.
Normal Force
• The relationship between fiber-on-fiber friction force and
normal force can be described by using an empirical
equation:
• where ‘a’ and ‘n’ are constants.

• The value of a depends on the properties of the surface material.
• The ‘n’ value depends on the type of fiber and direction of
sliding. It is dependent only on the mechanism of deformation,
that is, n is an indicator of the visco-elastic properties of the
material under test. Generally ranging from 3/4 to 1.
Sliding Speed
• As discussed in previous slides, the friction coefficient of most materials is independent of the
sliding speed. However, polymer fibers are different.
• The friction coefficient of polymer fibers is affected by the sliding speed.
• In general, at low speeds, a decrease in friction coefficient can be observed as the speed increases,
but at high sliding speeds, the friction coefficient increases with increase in sliding speed.
• This behavior is related to the viscoelastic properties and physicochemical activities of polymer
fibers.
Sliding Speed
• It should be recognized the relationship between friction coefficient and sliding speed is affected by
the test temperature.
• When the temperature is comparable or greater than the glass transition temperature, the friction
coefficient exhibits a strong dependence on the sliding speed.
• However, below the glass transition temperature, the friction coefficient is less dependent on the
sliding speed.
Humidity
• Humidity is another factor that affects the friction
coefficient between fibers.
• With increase in relative humidity, the friction
coefficient between fibers increases. One possible
reason is that water molecules penetrate the
contact points and increase the contact areas.
• In addition, while sliding the fibers at high relative
humidities, the shear of the water surface also may
contribute to the increased friction coefficient.
Effect of relative humidity on the friction

coefficient between polymer fibers.
Temperature
• The friction coefficient between fibers also increases with increase in temperature. As a matter of fact,
temperature effect is one of the causes for the increased friction coefficients at high sliding speeds.
• At very high speeds, the temperature of fibers may increase, and this could contribute to the increased
friction coefficients.

15-Frictional Properties of Fibers.

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Frictional Properties of Fibers

Frictional Properties of Fibers

• In addition to these two examples where friction is clearly an advantage or a

• kinetic friction is the force resisting continued sliding.

• For most materials, the kinetic friction coefficient is independent of the

• Both FD and FE are equal to FC since the

• Friction force is related to the irregular structure of material

surfaces. On the microscale, almost all surfaces are

irregular, and true surface contacts only occur at the tips of

• Surfaces touch at the high points where considerable compressive and

• Therefore, the total frictional force is the sum of two terms:

where N is the normal force, and A the true contact area

• Since both τ* and Py are constants, so coefficient of friction is:

• The difference between the static

• where ‘a’ and ‘n’ are constants.

Effect of relative humidity on the friction

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