ANALOG AND DIGITAL COMPUTER SIMULATION OF COULOMB FRICTION

Coulomb friction, such as found in the suspension system of railway freight cars, can strongly influence dynamic behavior. The Coulomb friction nonlinearity must be accurately implemented in computer simulations of multi-degree-of-freedom dynamic models. This report proposes three computer models for friction and analyzes their performance in analog and digital computer simulations. Simulation techniques used are described in detail. Performance of each friction model is compared to analytical results. The accuracy, advantages, and disadvantages of each model are discussed. The report concludes with recommendations on the use of the proposed friction models.