12/11/2014

FrictionandAutomobileTires

FrictionandAutomobile
Tires
Thefrictionbetweenthetiresof
yourautomobileandtheroad
determineyourmaximum
acceleration,andmoreimportantly
yourminimumstoppingdistance.
Sothenatureofthatfrictioncould
actuallybeamatteroflifeand
death.Butlikeallapplicationsof
friction,ithasfrustrating
ambiguities.
Manyyearsofresearchand
practicehaveledtotreaddesigns
forautomobiletireswhichoffer
goodtractioninawidevarietyof
conditions.Thetreaddesigns
channelwaterawayfromthe
bearingsurfacesonwetroadsto
combatthetendencytohydroplane
aconditionwhichallowsyourcar
to"ski'ontheroadsurfacebecause
youhavealayerofwaterlubricant
underallpartsofyourtire.
JonesandChildersreportcoefficientsoffrictionofabout0.7
fordryroadsand0.4forwetroads.Thetreaddesignrepresents
an"allweather"compromise.IfyouwereanIndianapolisrace
driver,youwoulduse"slick"racingtireswithnotread.Ondry
surfacesyoumightgetashighas0.9asacoefficientof
friction,butdrivingthemonwetroadswouldbedangerous
sincethewetroadcoefficientmightbeaslowas0.1.
Soonerorlater,mostpeoplehavetodealwiththetricky
judgmentofhowhardtoputonthebrakesinanemergency
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FrictionandAutomobileTires

stop.Itisadifficultissue,andnofinalanswersaregivenhere.
Buttheillustrationbelowmaypointoutsomeoftherelevant
physicalprinciplesinvolved.Inthebestcasescenario,you
shouldkeepyourwheelsrollingwhilebrakingbecausethe
bottompointofthetireisinstantaneouslyatrestwithrespectto
theroadway(notslipping),andifthereisasignificant
differencebetweenstaticandkineticfriction,youwillgetmore
brakingforcethatway.Butyougenerallydon'thavetheluxury
oftimetomakeadelicatejudgmentabouthowhardtoputon
thebrakes.Forgoodtiresondrysurfaces,thereisnotmuch
differencebetweenrollingandslidingfriction,andifyouback
offthebrakingforceverymuch,youwillgetlessbrakingthan
ifyoujustlockedthemdown.Theotherissueisthatinan
extremeemergency,thebrakingisinstinctiveandyoutendto
hitthebrakesashardasyoucanbeforeyoucaneventhink
aboutit.

Index
Friction
concepts
Plotof
standard
model
Reference
Jones&
Childers,
2ndEd.
Sec4.8

Maybelockingthebrakesisnotsobadingoodconditionson
thedryroad,andyoumaynotbeabletokeepfromdoingsoin
anextremeemergency.Butifyoulockthewheelsonawet
road,theresultscouldbedisastrous!Idon'thaveanythinglike
reliableestimatesoftheeffectivecoefficientoffriction,butI
amguessingthatitcouldeasilydroptolessthanhalfofthe
"wheelsrolling"brakingbecauseyouareslidingonasurface
whichislubricatedbywater.Itmaybethatevenwithwheels
rollingyoumighthaveintheneighborhoodof0.4asa
coefficientcomparedto0.7onthedryroad,anditmightdrop
downtothe0.1oftheslicktire.Thosescaryscenariosare
depictedbelowinaqualitativewayIdon'thavereliable
numbers.

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HyperPhysics*****Mechanics

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FrictionandAutomobileTires

RNave

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