The Effect of Stiffness on Friction, Surface Strain and Contact Area of a Sliding Finger Pad Simulant

This study investigates the frictional and surface strain behaviour of silicone hemispherical finger pad simulants with different stiffness during tribological interactions with a smooth glass plate. A novel contact area and strain measurement method employing a digital image correlation technique was employed to give new understanding of the pad behaviour during sliding. The frictional behaviour of the sliding finger pad simulant is dominated by the adhesion mechanism, with a small overall contribution from deformation, as suggested by the high principal strains at the edge of the contact area. The strain behaviour is also influenced by the magnitude of the normal force and the stiffness of the samples.