2011-05-51

Study of vibrations in brakes caused by stick-slip using

continuous transition between static and dynamic friction
and viscous damping
Andr Garcia Lima Suetti
Robson Pederiva
UNICAMP - University of Campinas
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Design
Campinas SP Brazil

Edilson Jos Jaquetto

TMD Friction do Brasil S.A.
Research and Development Department
Indaiatuba SP Brazil

Copyright 2011 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Noise control in the braking process is very important

for users comfort. The best way to solve this problem is to
study and eliminate the causes of the noise.

Always acting as a resistance to relative motion,

friction turns much of the kinetic energy of a body in
thermal energy. The automotive brake system generally
uses the friction between two surfaces to dissipate the
motion energy of the vehicle and, consequently, reduces its
speed. However, it is well known that a small fraction of
this energy is dissipated in other ways, such as light and
vibration [1].

In a friction brake system, the noise may be a

consequence of the stick-slip phenomenon, which is based
on the difference between static and dynamic values of
friction. The transition between static and dynamic frictions
exerts a big influence on the reaction of the system. This
study involves the stick-slip phenomenon in a simple
system, considering the transition among the values of
static and dynamic frictions.

Even though the amount of energy that causes

vibration is minimal compared to the energy dissipated in
braking, it is enough to generate large-scale noise, resulting
in acoustic discomfort.

Adding viscous damping in a dynamic system tends

to stabilize it asymptotically. This study also involves the
effect of adding viscous damping in a simple system that is
inflicted by stick-slip phenomenon.

Still, a mechanical system with a lot of energy

vibrating at an audible frequency is not enough to generate
sound: it would be necessary for the vibration to be
transmitted to a component that could act as a sound source,
that is, being capable of generating considerable sound
pressures.

Specifically in the case of a disc brake system, the

main component of the sound source is the disc itself
which, because of its thin and long geometry, is suitable for
moving large amounts of air when it vibrates [2].
There are two ways of controlling this kind of noise
generation: changing the component that is performing the
function of sound source or suppressing the vibration
excitation in that source.

Figure 1. Disc-pad system with single degree-of-freedom.

Due to the difference between the static and dynamic
friction coefficients (k < s), the motion of mass m has two
phases:

For functional reasons, the geometry of the brake disc

is not easily changed to the point of assuring it will no
longer be an efficient source of sound. Therefore, it is
advisable to control and, if possible, eliminate the dynamic
conditions that allow the transformation of kinetic energy
into vibration, which can excite this sound source.

1. Stick phase: The particle moves with the same

speed of the surface (vrel = 0) and friction force Fs
equals the sum of the stiffness and damping
forces up to its maximum value Fs = sN0. From
the moment Fs is maximum, the system assumes
the slip phase.

In view of this choice, mathematical models

representing the mechanical disc-pad system may show
ways of helping overcome the phenomenon of unwanted
noise.

2. Slip phase: The particle slides over the surface (vrel

0) until their velocities become equal and the
system assumes the stick phase again. The
motion equation for this period is:

MINIMAL MODEL FOR STICK-SLIP IN THE

CONTACT BETWEEN PAD AND DISC
A single degree-of-freedom model [3] for contact
between disc-pad and the equivalent system for the study
are shown in Figure 1.

..

(1)

Considering the absence of damping and constants s

and k coefficients, an example of the movement described
by the particle is shown in Figure 2.

The simplification takes the pad as a particle and thus

converts the angular motion of the disc to the displacement
of a linear surface, where:
m
k
c
N0
V
x

m x c x kx Fk

Slip

mass of particle;
stiffness;
damping;
applied force;
linear velocity of the surface;
displacement of particle;

Stick

vrel = V- x
Fs = sN0
Fk = sgn(vrel)kN0
s, k
coefficient, respectively

relative velocity;
static friction force;
dynamic friction force;
static and dynamic friction

Where sgn (y) is called the signum function whose

value is defined as 1 for y > 0, -1 for y > 0 and 0 for y = 0.
Figure 2. Motion of the particle with the parameters: m = 1
[kg], k = 50 [N/m], N0 = 9.81 [N], V = 1 [m/s], s = 0.6, k
= 0.3.

Thus, the stick-slip remains stable in the limit cycle

and becomes a source of vibration, which can excite other
systems.

F sgn V x N 0

Analyzing the same case presented earlier, but now

considering the continuous variation of friction, the system
response time is shown in Figure 4, where m = 1 [kg], k =
50 [N/m], N0 = 9.81 [N], V = 1 [m/s], s = 0.6, k = 0.3, d =
50 and h = 1.

SMOOTH TRANSITION BETWEEN S AND K.

The modeling of stick-slip with constants s and k
does not consider changes in the friction value coefficient
when the relative velocity approaches zero. A function of
and vrel [4] can be adopted, where:
.

d V x
1 e

h V x

k
s
k

(3)

(2)

The d and h parameters control the transition between

static and dynamic friction. Some combinations of these
values are shown in Figure 3, with coefficients s = 0.6 and
k = 0.3.

Figure 4. Motion of the particle with smooth transition of

friction (h = 1).
If the transition between static and dynamic friction is
changed, the oscillation pattern changes. With the same
conditions above, the graph shown in Figure 5 shows the
system undergoing a frictional force with a smoother
transition (h = 0.1).

Figure 3. Friction coefficient as a function of relative

velocity

Figure5. Response time of the same system with smooth

transition of friction (h = 0.1).

The friction force is represented by Equation 3:

Figures 4 and 5 show that smoother transitions of

friction result in reduced range of motion and fewer
distinctions between the stick and slip phases.

Figure 6 shows the maximum damping for the same

simulated conditions shown in Figure 4. Values below 1.1
[Ns/m] transform the patterns of oscillation (stick-slip less
distinct) but do not noticeably affect its amplitude. To add
damping above this value tends to stabilize asymptotically
the system.

DAMPING
The addition of damping in a mechanical system
means to dissipate energy and thereby reduce its amplitude
of vibration.

DAMPING LIMIT FOR EACH TRANSITION OF

FRICTION - The threshold value of damping depends on
the transition between static and dynamic friction. A
smooth transition requires a smaller viscous damping. If we
assume that h = 0.1, the limit becomes 0.3 [Ns/m], which is
a much lower value than the simulation shown in Figure 6.
It is important to notice that the system is the same. The
only change is in the transition of friction.

However, in the stick-slip system, it is observed that

viscous damping values below a certain limit do not reduce
its vibration, even though they change the oscillation
pattern.

(a)
(a)

(b)
(b)

Figure 6. (a) Limit-cycle, even with damping c = 1.1

[Ns/m]. (b) c = 1.2 [Ns/m] threshold value for asymptotic
stability.

Figure 7. System with smooth transition of friction (h =

0.1). (a) c = 0.2 [Ns/m] (b) c = 0.3 [Ns/m] threshold
value for asymptotic stability.

However, it is a difficult task to analytically find a

minimum value of damping to produce asymptotic stability,
due to the nonlinearity of the system. The option is to find
such values through numerical simulations.

The minimum damping to cause asymptotic stability

can be estimated as follows: if the value of c is not

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

sufficient to reduce the velocity amplitude x to values

below the surface velocity V in the second cycle, the system
feeds back during the stick phase and remains stable within
the limit cycle. The result is pretty much the same.

We would like to thank TMD Friction do Brasil S.A.

and The State University of Campinas for the support given
to the current study.

With this in mind, in order to find the asymptotic

stability, it is necessary to seek the value of damping that
causes a sufficient loss of speed in the second cycle of
vibration, as shown in Figure 8.

REFERENCES
[1] Akay, A. (2002) Acoustics of friction Journal of
Acoustical Society of America, 111(4), 1525-1548
[2] Kinkaid, N. M. et al (2002) Automotive disc
brake squeal Journal of Sound and Vibration 267
105-166
[3] Denny, M. (2004) Stick-slip motion: an
important example of self-excited oscillation
European Journal of Physics 25 311-322

(a)

(b)

[4] Kang, J. et al. (2009) Oscillation pattern of stickslip vibrations International Journal of nonLinear Mechanics 44 820-828

Figure 8. (a) Second cycle with peak velocity equals

the speed of the surface: stage vibration fed back by stick
phase. (b) Movement asymptotically stable without stick
phase.
CONCLUSION
In mechanical systems with two sliding surfaces, the
stick-slip phenomenon may occur when the relative
velocity between them comes to be zero. Therefore, it is
plausible to estimate that there is a well-defined vibration of
the pad by stick-slip due to the mechanical characteristics
of the brake system and that this may excite vibrations in
the disc, producing noise.
The modeling of the phenomenon considering
different transitions between static and dynamic friction
results in various responses to the same system. For greater
efficiency of the model, it is necessary to know the function
of the friction coefficient and relative velocity. The
numerical integration for simulation should therefore
consider this nonlinearity.
Although damping usually operates as energy
dissipation, when it is inappropriate it does not reduce
vibration by stick-slip. The value of damping limit to
provide asymptotic stability is directly related to the
transition between the coefficients of static and dynamic
friction. It can be reached by numerical simulation, since
the nonlinearity of the system hinders analytical models.