A novel friction model for steel‐polymer interfaces in sliding seismic isolation bearings

Abstract Experiments have shown that the coefficient of friction in steel‐polymer interfaces is influenced by several interacting parameters, making it difficult to accurately model the instantaneously varying coefficient of friction in sliding seismic isolation bearings. A new model to characterize the variation of the coefficient of friction in sliding seismic isolation bearings in which a thermoplastic slides relative to a steel surface is presented. The model takes into account the variation in the coefficient of friction produced by changes in sliding velocity, normal pressure, and stick‐slip phenomena, as well as degradation due to frictional heating. In particular, the model takes into account the differences in behavior during reversing and nonreversing stick‐slip transitions. It is shown that the proposed model is able to reproduce very well experimental results of friction tests using various steel‐polymer interfaces.