Rubber friction on icy pavement: Experiments and modeling

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2020.103022Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The scale range of power spectrum is divided into three parts according to the position of the inflection point.

  • The influence of ice layer on morphology characteristics are investigated by comparing the power spectrum of icy pavement.

  • A new model for predicting friction on icy pavement is developed based on Persson theory and computational fluid dynamics.

Abstract

This work presents a comprehensive study of the performance of rubber on icy pavement both experimentally and theoretically. The experimental tests involve four different rubber tread compounds and two pavement surfaces exhibiting different roughness characteristics. Tests are carried out at three different background temperatures ranging from −5 to −20 °C, and at the sliding speed at 40 km/h. The viscoelastic properties of the rubber specimens are quantified using dynamic mechanical analysis. The surface morphology of pavement is measured using X-ray CT unit. Ice condition were simulated by wetting the cold samples, and then the friction coefficients were measured. Finally, a numerical model for predicting the friction on icy pavement is developed based on energy conservation and computational fluid dynamics. The elaborate model exhibits very satisfactory predictive capabilities. The study shows the importance of surface texture for molding the friction on icy pavement. Furthermore, a strong indication can be provided that the skid resistance of pavement under icy condition in field could be measured without contact in the future.

Introduction

Tread rubber friction on pavement surface is one of the most important factors in roadway safety, especially under adverse weather condition (Guide for Pavement Friction, 2008; Wang et al., 2013; Dravitzki et al., 2003). Meanwhile, there is statistically significant correlation between skid resistance and accident rate, and the crash rate increases rapidly with decreasing skid resistance values below 50 (Kuttesch, 2004; Cairney, 1997; Claeys et al., 2001; Mc Cullough and Hankins, 1966). Moreover, in cold climate where the temperature is well below freezing, there will be an ice layer on top of the wet pavement, which will greatly extend the deceleration distance. The tyre tread is locally separated from the pavement by the contamination, which is directly related not only to the destruction of balance between loading and bearing capacity from pavement but also to the users' safety. Related research works also indicated that even the slightest sign of snow crystals on the track tended to reduce the friction coefficient drastically (Norheim et al., 2001; Klein-Paste and Sinha, 2010; Klein-Paste et al., 2015). Thus, it is practical to make efforts in better understanding the effect of ice layer and its influence on the pavement safety.

A number of investigators have set up experiments in order to evaluate friction on ice. It was recognized that the friction force consists of two parts, namely, the hysteresis and the adhesion components (Bazlamit and Reza, 2005; Fukahori et al., 2010). Southern found that the curves of friction coefficient on ice at various temperatures are segments of a single ‘mastercurve’, as well as on dry substrate (Southern and Walker, 1972). Further, viscoelastic deformation of rubber activated by interactions with asperities has been studied both on dry and icy substrates, ignoring the adhesive contribution (Persson, 2001; Ueckermann et al., 2014; Lahayne et al., 2006). On the contrary, Tusima measured the friction between the steel ball and ice samples at a constant speed ranging from 1.5 × 10−07 to 7.4 × 10−03 m/s and considered that the low friction on ice is caused by the high hardness/shear strength ratio in the view point of adhesion theory (Tusima, n.d.). However, these efforts were initiated at a low sliding speed, which is considered insufficient to generate melting water. Marmo insisted that the extremely low frictional performance under given conditions is due to the presence of liquid water which lubricates the sliding interface (Marmo et al., 2005). Therefore, it would be more complicated because of the lubrication resulting from the melting water. There are three different mechanisms that contribute to the sources of the liquid-like lubrication layer, i.e., surface premelting, pressure melting, and frictional heating. At the beginning, energy minimization was chosen to be the basis of the existence of surface melting, which has later been criticized on the grounds. Following Faraday's hypothesis, Thonson attributed the existence of the lubrication layer to pressure melting. Investigators obtained the relation between the surface pressure and the melting temperature follow the equation dTm/dP =  − 7.34 × 10−8 ° C/Pa (Barnes et al., 1971a; Makkonen, 1997). Until Bowden indicated that this poor frictional behaviour is due to surface melting resulting from frictional heating (Bowden, 1953), this is today the generally accepted theory to explain ice friction.(Liang et al., 2003; Bhoopalam et al., 2015a; Bhoopalam et al., 2015b).

Predictive models for skid resistance evolution are also necessary for design and construction of pavements with adequate friction.(Wang et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2017) Fosr this reason, various models have been presented to predict the frictional behaviour of the rubber-ice interface taken into account different factor. Hayhoe and Sahpley derived a mathematical model based on the principle of the energy conservation and heat conduction for the case of friction at the tire-ice interface.(Hayhoe and Sahpley, 1989) Evans et al. deduced the first theoretical model to explore the dependence of the friction coefficient on frictional heating based on the principle that the heat generated at the contact region must equal to the frictional force (Evans et al., 1976). Oksanen and Keinonen further elaborated this model by considering the hydrodynamic resulting from the liquid-like layer on the top of the substrate (Oksanen and Keinonen, 1982). Makkonen took the squeeze-out flow into his model, in which the actual thickness and coefficient of friction on ice are calculated iteratively (Makkonen and Tikanmaki, 2014). In addition, two orthotropic surface with general asperities were introduced by Spagni to describe the local friction behaviour between them in terms of shear stress of the melting water at the interface (Spagni et al., 2016). On the contrary, Lahayne (Lahayne et al., 2006) declared that frictional shear stress contribution to friction is negligible and developed a theoretical model based on the Persson rubber friction and contact mechanics theory, which accurately takes into account the viscoelasticity and also determines the area of real contact.

In this paper, pavement two-dimensional power spectrum of two typical types of asphalt mixture is calculated and the change of morphology characteristics resulting from ice coverage is analyzed. Subsequently, an friction test series involving three different temperature is investigated, with the aim to get insight into the dependency of friction coefficients on the ambient air temperature, mixture types and rubber compounds. In the sequel, an advanced theoretical model on Persson theory for the frictional behavior of rubber on icy pavement surfaces is extended to the additional hydrodynamic effect of ‘squeezed out’. Such model should account for tire and pavement surface texture characteristics, and the influence of environmental factors.

Section snippets

Materials, experiment methods and test results

In this sequel, the results quantifying viscoelastic properties of the rubber specimens were presented. Two different surface roughness measurements were also described. Finally, ice condition were simulated by wetting the cold samples, and then the friction coefficient were measured.

Friction model of rubber and asphalt pavement under ice condition

At high enough velocity, a thin continuous water film is generated between friction pair due to melting of ice resulting from frictional heating. Hence the friction is, partially, generated by viscosity of the water film. In this paper, the thermodynamic model is based on equilibrium between frictional energy from hysteresis and viscous friction. Further more, heat transfer to ice and the latent heat for the phase transition from solid ice to water are also included in this model. Two additive

Summary and conclusion

In this paper, the skid resistance of icy asphalt pavement and its recovery process were analyzed. For this purpose, a modified friction model was proposed compared to the experimental data. The main conclusions from this paper are summarized as follows:

Firstly, the surface morphology has been quantified for two different mixture types (AC-13 and SMA-13). Furthermore, the change of morphology characteristics resulting from ice coverage was determined by means of two-dimensional power spectral

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Key Program for International S&T Cooperation Projects of China (Grant No. 2016YFE0202400) and National Natural Science Funds of China (Grant No. U1633201). Thanks to the anonymous reviewers for many comments that have notably helped us improve the manuscript.

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