Elastic Hysteresis and a Catastrophic Wear Mechanism for Polymers

It is now accepted that hysteresis loss in sub-surface regions plays a major role in rolling friction; however, its influence upon wear has received little consideration. Similarly, the temperatures generated by frictional heating have been analysed only in terms of those mechanisms of sliding friction that result in heat generation at the surface. It is shown that hysteresis loss can cause significant increases in the sub-surface temperatures of rolling bodies with catastrophic consequences for their wear and damage. This mechanism of failure may apply to a wide range of engineering situations including nylon cams, automobile and aircraft tyres and the fibre-filled supercalender rolls used in paper mills.