Stability of a slider with hemispherical legs in plane contacting a flat surface

Abstract This paper examines the stability of a contact system consisting of a slider with hemispherical legs, in plane, against a stationary flat surface. The normal and angular contact dynamics of the slider are modeled with a two degree-offreedom nonlinear system. The eigenvalues of the linearized system predict stable sliding, flutter unstable sliding, and divergent unstable slider behavior. The effect of coefficient of friction, slider aspect ratio, slider center-of-mass location, damping, and slider leg radius on the stability of sliding is examined. Four types of behavior are observed from experiments: smooth steady sliding, sliding with squeal, jerky sliding, and tipping of the slider. The simulation results are compared with the experimental observations.