Thermal effects and low-temperature frictional pair characteristics

The frictional heating effect on low temperature sliding was studied. The dependence of friction coefficient on sliding velocity and the materials interface temperature were taken into account. Thermal runaway instability of sliding was found to exist and the thermofrictional instability criterion and increment were obtained for an arbitrary function. A qualitative theory of the collective thermofrictional instability is presented. Specific situations, including adiabatic sliding and the static case, are considered. It is shown that frictional pair thermal characteristics may considerably affect sliding instability emergence and dynamics. A series of discontinuous slips may occur prior to runaway instability; the stable thermofrictional oscillations may take place at the nonlinear stage of low temperature sliding