A closed-form experimentally-verified analytical solution for prediction of thermoelastic instability in dry frictional interfaces

A closed-form analytical expression for the critical speed of dry-contact interfaces is developed. The model explicitly incorporates the influence of sliding velocity on heat diffusion, providing a realistic representation of the underlying thermal behavior. It further accounts for Newtonian cooling of friction-generated heat at the interface, while incorporating the effects of surface waviness. In addition, the surface roughness characteristics of both contacting bodies are systematically integrated into the formulation. The influence of disk thickness is also considered to improve the model's physical realism. The proposed critical speed expression is validated against several previously reported experimental and numerical results, showing excellent agreement, with deviations of less than 10% in certain cases.