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Sealing is at the origin of rubber slipping on wet roads

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 882–885 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Loss of braking power and rubber skidding on a wet road is still an open physics problem, as neither the hydrodynamic effects nor the loss of surface adhesion that are sometimes blamed really manage to explain the 20–30% observed loss of low-speed tyre–road friction. Here we report a novel mechanism based on sealing of water-filled substrate pools by the rubber. The sealed-in water effectively smoothens the substrate, thus reducing the viscoelastic dissipation in bulk rubber induced by surface asperities—well established as a major friction contribution. Starting with the measured spectrum of asperities one can calculate the water-smoothened spectrum and from that the predicted friction reduction, which is of the correct magnitude. The theory is directly supported by fresh tyre–asphalt friction data.

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Figure 1: A rubber block sliding on a rough hard substrate.
Figure 2: Water smoothening of road roughness.
Figure 3: Surface roughness power spectra C(q).
Figure 4: Kinetic friction coefficient as a function of the logarithm of the sliding velocity.

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Acknowledgements

Work in SISSA was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of University and Research through MIUR COFIN 2003, and MIUR FIRB RBAUO1LX5H as well as through Istituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia, grant INFM FIRB RBAU017S8R. We very recently learnt that related unpublished ideas have also been expressed by G. Heinrich, S. Kelbch, M. Klueppel and E. J. Schramm in Dresden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFF, FZ-Jülich, Jülich, 52425, Germany

    B. N. J. Persson & U. Tartaglino

  2. International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Beirut 2, Trieste, I-34014, Italy

    U. Tartaglino & E. Tosatti

  3. INFM Democritos National Simulation Center, Via Beirut 2, Trieste, I-34014, Italy

    U. Tartaglino & E. Tosatti

  4. Pirelli Deutschland, AG, 64733 Höchst/Odenwald, Postfach, 1120, Germany

    O. Albohr

  5. International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), PO Box 586, Trieste, I-34014, Italy

    E. Tosatti

Authors
  1. B. N. J. Persson
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  2. U. Tartaglino
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  3. O. Albohr
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  4. E. Tosatti
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Correspondence to E. Tosatti.

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Persson, B., Tartaglino, U., Albohr, O. et al. Sealing is at the origin of rubber slipping on wet roads. Nature Mater 3, 882–885 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1255

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