A laboratory study of the influences of four parameters--contactpressure, temperature, speed of travel, and roughness of the stainless steel surface--on the coefficient of friction in a tetrafluorethylene-stainless steel interface is described. The coefficient of friction is found to be a maximum during the first cycle of movement, to decrease rapidly during the next four cycles, and to show little variation thereafter. The coefficient of friction increases with an increase in speed of travel and roughness of the steel surface and with a decrease in contact pressure and temperature. It is concluded that the values of the coefficient of friction for tetrafluorethylenegiven in the ontario highway bridge design code follow the proper trend and are conservative, but not unduly so, under the combination of low temperature, high speed of travel, and rough mating surface. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1275, bridge research 1990.
Abstract