An Analytical Description of the Frictional Behaviour of a Titanium Alloy

In recent years, significant effort has been put in the enhancement of our understanding of the physics and mechanics of moving objects under contact. Developed theoretical models can not fully account for the observed frictional behaviour of materials due to the lack of understanding of the interaction processes which occur at the microscopic level. In this paper, an analytical contact model will be described and its application to a titanium alloy will be presented. Conclusions will be drawn on the ability of this model to describe different friction regimes. The inclusion of additional factors which impact on frictional behaviour will be discussed, as well as the derivation of constitutive equations and their utilisation in continuum models.