A 3D finite element formulation describing the frictional behavior of rubber on ice and concrete surfaces

The frictional behavior of rubber materials on various contact surfaces is strongly affected by the contact pressure and the relative sliding velocity as well as the environmental temperature. Based on a great number of experiments of rubber blocks moving on concrete and ice surfaces, a friction law for 3D contact analyses is presented in this paper. It is characterized by the dependency on the contact pressure, sliding velocity and the environmental temperature. The identification and correction of the parameters of this friction law were done by means of a least‐square method followed by re‐analyses of the respective experiments. Several examples are given in a numerical investigation of the frictional behavior of rubber materials.