Dynamic and tribological contact study for human fingertips at very low speeds

Nonlinear elastic models have been widely used to describe the mechanical behaviour of complex materials such as skin. The subject of skin modelling is fairly new and of great importance to fields such as robotics and the development of skin-like materials to orthopaedics and prosthetics. The present article serves to add to the findings of previous authors and present experimental values gathered using the "Stick-Slip Experimental Stand" within the Machine Elements and Tribology Department on the tribological aspects regarding friction at very low speeds. The scope of this article is to evaluate the static and kinetic friction coefficients of the human skin in contact with different materials. A total of 5 different materials were tested to find the static and kinetic friction coefficient. The tested materials were steel, bronze, and 3 types of materials found on the inside of working gloves in direct contact with human skin: leather (bovine origin) and 2 types of textiles (cotton and nylon). All tests were performed at 1.8 mm/min, with an initial load of 7.5 Newton and a test time of 1000 seconds. The total distance evaluated was 9.25 mm.