Analytic and FE based estimations of the coefficient of friction of composite surfaces

In this work the coefficient of friction (COF) of a body with a composite surface layer (CSL) in sliding contact with a homogeneous counterbody is studied. With an analytic model the upper and lower bounds of the COF are estimated, whereas the material and surface properties of the CSL components are known and no information about their geometrical arrangement is at hand. An analogy with the Voigt and Reuss bounds is invoked. The analytic results are compared to FE computations. Additionally the influence of plastic deformation and geometric properties of the CSL are treated.