Statistical study of the electric conduction and the friction of sliding contacts. Radio-noise in sliding contacts

Abstract

The concept of the contact area as composed of discrete spots¹ suggests the idea that the fluctuations of the conduction and of the friction of sliding contacts may be mainly referred to the random appearance of the spots, that will have two major aspects which we call Process I and Process II. Because of our poor knowledge of the physical nature of the spots it is expedient that any statistical description of their behavior employ primitive assumptions which require the use of no more mathematics than that needed for fairly simple computations.