MATERIALS CIVL2110

FRICTION fundamentals
and its relevance to soil and
rock
 Introduction 2

Laws of Friction

Physical basis of friction

Soil materials

Friction in soil

Friction in rock discontinuities

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The laws of friction

The friction force is proportional to the normal load

F
tan
N
In materials science it is normal to discuss friction in terms of
the coefficient of friction, . In soil and rock mechanics the
friction angle, is used.

The friction force is independent of the apparent area of contact

The friction force is independent of velocity

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Physical origins of friction

Material surfaces are rough at a molecular scale,

as shown in this sketch of a ground metal surface.

Contact only occurs at surface asperities

At each contact the stress reaches a limiting value,
c equal to the indentation hardness
The normal force, N, is then given by N c Ac
Where Ac is the contact area

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Physical origins of friction

The surfaces are welded together at the points of

contact. The shear force required to break the
welds is given by

F c Ac
The shear stress c is the stress required to cause
shear failure which is related to the yield stress of
the material, and to the indentation hardness.
Hence
F c
= constant
N c

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Physical origins of friction

Let us consider what happens as a hammer made of tool steel, c

= 4000 MN/m2, weighing 2 kg is put down on an anvil. The
contact area Ac will be

N 29.81
Ac m 2

c 400010 6

1
10 6 m 2
200

This can be compared with a superficial area of approximately

500 mm2 (based on a 25 mm diameter hammer).

Ac
1
A
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Coefficients of friction

Material
Perfectly clean metals in vacuum >5
Clean metals in air 0.8 2
Ceramics on ceramics 0.05 0.5
Metals on polymers (eg. PTFE) 0.04 0.5

Metals exposed to air, apart from

gold, are surrounded by an oxide
film. This reduces .

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Lubrication

This has two objectives to reduce friction and wear

Ideally this is achieved by putting a fluid (oil) between the metal
surfaces that prevents metal to metal contact, and has a low
shear resistance.
There are four main methods
Boundary lubrication
Solid lubrication
Hydrodynamic lubrication
Elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication

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Class discussion (1)

The friction between waxed skis and snow increases from =

0.02 to about = 0.4 as the temperature drops from -10oC to
-15oC. For example in Scotts expedition to the South pole it was
recorded that friction on the sledge runners increased as
temperature fell causing the expedition considerable hardship.

Why?

Hint: Snow remains on house roofs at slopes of 25o

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Class discussion (2) 0

According to the laws of friction, the frictional resistance is

independent of the area.

Why then do racing cars have big tyres?

How do tyres work on wet roads?

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Soil materials 1

Soils are comprised of particles in contact. They are

essentially frictional materials whose strength and behaviour
is governed by interactions between the individual particles.

Natural soils are composed of a variety of mineral types

covering a wide range of sizes. The table shows the names
used for different sized particles (mm).

Gravel Sand Silt Clay

60 2 0.06 0 .002

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Grading curves for natural soils 2

CLAY SILT SAND GRAVEL

100

80

Boulder clay
% Finer
60
Beach sand
40
Silty clay
20

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)

The finest 25% usually control the soil properties. If the fine
particles are uniformly distributed through the soil mass they will:

Control pore size - and hence the ease of drainage

Control frictional properties

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Soil minerals 3

Quartz
Feldspar
Olivine
Increasing
Enstatite hardness
Augite =
Hornblende Increasing
Calcite particle size

Mica
Clay minerals kaolin, illite, montmorillonite

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Large particles - shape 4

Shape can be described by the quantities

Sphericity as opposed to platiness Decreasing

Roundness as opposed to angularity scale
Roughness as opposed to smoothness

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Large particles 5

The hardest particles are comprised of quartz (silica, H7, 25)

and Feldspar (alumino-silicates with potassium, sodium or
calcium, H6, 35). Both of these minerals possess a strong
three-dimensional atomic structure, which gives them their
hardness.
The high resistance of quartz to abrasion (hardness) is
responsible for its widespread occurrence in sands and gravels,
and for its relative rarity in finer soils.
The particle size is limited by the higher probability of
imperfections and brittle fracture in large particles.
For sand and gravel grains the shape is controlled by mechanical
effects, principally abrasion as particles are transported by wind
or water. It is found that particles become rounder with age.

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Clay particles 6

The softest particles are the clay minerals. The main clay
minerals are
kaolinite, illite (alumino-silicates, H <1, 10)
smectite or montmorillonite (alumino-silicate with sodium,
potassium and calcium, 57).
These clay minerals tend to form plate like particles with
thicknesses of between 10 m for kaolin and 0.01 m for
smectite. These particles are so small that electrical and
chemical effects become more important in controlling their
behaviour.
These minerals are sheet silicate structures phyllosilicates.

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Clay particles 7

Clay particles are formed by combinations of two sheet structures

Silicon tetrahedral
layer

Octahedral layer

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Kaolin 8

Hydrogen bonds between

layers relatively strong
Relatively large particles
S = 15 m2/gm
CEC = 5 meq/100 g

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Montmorillonite 1
9

Van der Waals bonds

between layers
relatively weak
Relatively small particles
S = 800 m2/gm
CEC = 100 meq/100 g

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Double layers 0

A consequence of the negative charge of the clay particles is

that there is a layer of water surrounding each particle
containing the cations that balance the negative charge. This
layer of water is known as a double layer, and is bound to the
clay.

+ + + + Clay particle
+ + + + +
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
+ + + + + +
+ + + Double layer

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Double layers 1

The behaviour of the double layer can be described by the

Gouy-Chapman theory of potential. The potential is given by

= 0 e- x

4 2 n io zi2
=
kT
where nio = concentration of ions (i) in bulk suspension
zi = valency of ions (i)
T = temperature
k = Boltzman's constant
= charge of an electron
= dielectric constant

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Double layers 2

It can be shown that the "centre of gravity" of the double

layer is located at x = 1/. That is the thickness of the
double layer is inversely proportional to . Thus we can see
that the double layer thickness is reduced by

increasing ionic concentration

increasing ion valency
reducing dielectric constant

It is found that temperature has little effect because an

increase in temperature leads to a corresponding decrease
in dielectric constant

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Double layers 3
The double layer has a significant influence on the properties of clay
minerals.
It provides a low shear resistance leading to low friction angles,
it limits the free pore space available for flow leading to low
permeability,
its thickness can change with changes in pore fluid chemistry.

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Adhesion theory of friction and soils 4
The indentation hardness of quartz is 7000 MN/m2 so only a
small part of the superficial area is required to transmit the
stresses encountered in soil engineering.
The maximum stress of interest in soil mechanics 1000 kPa,
this would occur at a depth of about 50 m.
The required contact area at the asperities can be determined
from
N A c Ac

Ac 1

A c 7000

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Adhesion theory of friction and soils 5

The effect of the films of water (double layers) surrounding

soil particles can now be understood considering that the
coefficient of friction is given by
c

c

Fluids strongly attracted to a surface will influence c, but not

the indentation resistance c. The influence of the fluid layer is
generally to reduce c (this is the basis of lubrication).
The thicker the double layer and the lower the particle
roughness the greater will be the reduction of c. This is
observed with the lower friction angle for smectite compared to
kaolinite.

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Adhesion theory of friction and soils 2
6

Water has an anti-lubricating effect with some minerals (e.g.

quartz).

It might be expected that different angles of friction would be

measured for wet and dry soils because of the lubricating
effect of water films.

This is not observed in practice because:

Air is never perfectly dry, there is always sufficient moisture

in the air to form a layer on the soil surface.

Sliding friction is only a component of the apparent frictional

resistance of soils. Rolling of the soil grains is important.

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Other factors affecting friction in soils 7
N

F
SOIL

Ultimate
dense sand strength

F loose sand Ideal frictional

F

material
F=N
= tan N

Horizontal displacement
Horizontal displacement

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Shear Deformation 8

Particles move by combination of rolling and sliding

Particles are frustrated from rolling by their neighbours

Loose sand - less frustration less energy required

Dense sand more frustration net expansion required to

enable rolling

Shearing involves a combination of local expansion and

collapse

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Dilation 9

Volume change (dilation) accompanies shearing of soils.

This has a significant effect on soil resistance.

It has been found that the peak friction angle (= tan-1(F/N)) is

given by
max cs 0.8

Where cs is the critical state friction angle, the value of

when no further volume change is occurring at large
strains, and is the dilation angle

d v
tan 1

d

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Dilation 0

The amount of dilation will tend to increase with particle

angularity and roughness as both contribute to rotational
frustration

Maximum 20o

reduces with increasing stress level

reduces with reducing density

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Critical state friction angle 1

The critical state conditions show a constant ratio of

shear to normal stress indicating the frictional nature of
soil strength.

F
F

NN

However, the friction angles measured are significantly

higher than the inter-particle friction angles. For example,
for quartz sands cs = 35 whereas = 25.

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Critical state friction angles 2
Influence of particle shape, cs increases with
Increasing particle angularity
increasing roughness

Data for
quartz sands

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Critical state friction angles 3
Influence of particle grading, cs increases with increasing uniformity

100 The uniformity of the

particle size is often
80
expressed by Cu the
60 coefficient of uniformity,
% Finer

40
where
d 60
20 Cu =
d 10
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)

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 Critical state friction angles 3
4
Angular quartz sand 37
Rounded quartz sand 30
Angular carbonate sand ( 32) 43
Rounded carbonate sand 35
Sandy silty clay 30
Clay (see chart) 20

40
Friction angle (degrees)

30

20

10

0
log PI

increasing clay content

kaolin - illite - montmorillonite

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Residual friction angle (platey particles) 5

random particle
orientation pk, cs

particles lined up on
F failure plane r
F

3 mm Displacement
Displacement 1m

For some soils can drop from its critical state value to a lower
residual value
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Residual friction angle 6

r cs
Residual friction angle

0 20 40 60 80 100
Clay fraction

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Residual friction angle - application 7

In soil engineering the critical state friction angle is generally

considered to provide safe and conservative designs. Provided
a shear plane does not develop on which large displacements
occur this approach is reasonable.

Where large pre-existing slips have occurred, for instance due

to ancient landslides, the residual friction angle needs to be
used in analyses.

Residual friction angles may also be relevant for first time

slides in highly compacted soils. This can occur because
during compaction the clay particles align with their flat
surfaces perpendicular to the vertical, the direction of the
greatest stress

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Friction in rock masses 8

All rock masses contain discontinuities such as bedding planes,

joints, shear zones and faults.
At shallow depth, where stresses are low, failure of the intact rock
material is minimal and the behaviour of the rock mass is controlled
by friction (sliding) on the discontinuities.

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Friction in rock masses 9

To determine the basic friction angle it is common to shear a sawn or

ground surface.

r
N
N

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Friction in rock masses 0

Natural discontinuity surfaces in hard rock are never as smooth as

a sawn or ground surface
The undulations and asperities on a natural joint surface have a
significant influence on its shear behaviour

At low N, max r i
At high N, shearing occurs through the teeth
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Friction in rock masses 1

Real data from

tests on a
discontinuity in
slate

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Friction in rock masses 2

Barton has proposed an empirical

expression to account for different joint
roughnesses and different material
strengths given by:

JCS
tan JRC log r

JRC = joint roughness coefficient

JCS = joint material compressive
strength

But joint roughness is scale dependent

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Friction in rock masses 3

The joint shear strength can be reduced drastically when part,

or all, of the surface is covered by soft filling material such as
clay gouge.
For planar surfaces, such as bedding planes in sedimentary
rock, a thin clay coating can result in a significant shear
strength reduction.
For a rough or undulating joint, the filling thickness has to be
greater than the amplitude of the undulations before the shear
strength is reduced to that of the filling material.
It is important, as in lubrication of metals, that the soft filling is
not squeezed out so that it allows rock to rock contact.

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