Experimental study of air squeeze effect on high-frequency friction contact

A special tribometer was developed which was used to test sliding friction force between PTFE-based composites and bronze with normal (out-of-plane) or transverse (in-plane) high-frequency vibrations under three different environmental pressures. The influences of environmental pressure, vibration amplitude and sliding velocity on sliding friction coefficient were studied. The results show that the effect of environmental pressure on reduction of sliding friction is outstanding. With the increase of vacuum, the reduction of sliding friction by high-frequency vibrations decreased, especially the reduction of sliding friction by normal vibration. The sliding friction coefficient with high-frequency vibrations slowed down as the vibration amplitude increased. With increase of sliding velocity, the time-averaged friction coefficient with transverse vibration increased.