FRICTIONIN THE MACHINE ELEMENTS 

1 Surface contacts: 

·         Basic laws of friction 

·         Pivot and collar, introducti on and types.

·         Problem on flat pivot, Problems on conical pivot. 

Friction 

Friction is a measure of how hard it is to slide one object over another. Take a look at the figure below. Both of  the blocks are made from the same material, but one is heavier. I think we all know which one will be harder for the bulldozer to push.

Friction force versus weight

To understand why this  is, let's take a close look at one of the blocks and  the table:

Because friction exists at the microscopic level, the amount of force it takes to move a given block is proportional to that block's weight.

Even though the blocks look smooth to the naked eye, they are actually quite rough at the microscopic level. When you set the block down on the table, the little peaks and valleys get squished together, and some of them may actually weld together. The weight of the heavier block causes it to squish together more, so it is even harder to slide. Different materials have different microscopic structures; for instance, it is harder to slide rubber against rubber than it is to slide steel against steel. The type of material determines the coefficient of friction, the ratio of the force required to slide the block to the block's weight. If the coefficient were 1.0 in our example, then it would take 100 pounds of force to slide the 100-pound (45 kg) block, or 400 pounds (180 kg) of force to slide the 400-pound block. If the coefficient were 0.1, then it would take 10 pounds of force to slide to the 100-pound block or 40 pounds of force to slide the 400-pound block.

So the amount of force it takes to move a given block is proportional to that block's weight. The more weight, the more force required. This concept applies for devices like brakes and clutches, where a pad is pressed against a spinning disc. The more force that presses on the pad, the greater the stopping force.

 FRICTION 

Dry friction – Friction in screw jack – Pivot and collar friction - Plate clutches - Belt and rope drives - Block brakes, band brakes.

 Friction:

 The opposing force which acts in the opposite direction of the movement of the upper block is called the force of friction or friction.