Abstract: With the development of research on the frictional Properties of the human skin, there was still lack of a suitable friction tester to measure the frictional properties of irregular Part of human body, such as cheek, forehead etc. A portable frictional property testing apparatus was designated in this paper and measurements on frictional properties of human skin were conducted without hurting the skin. The results showed that the apparatus was easy to use and had good reliability. The friction coefficient didn’t follow general relationship with normal load and sliding speed when normal load ranged from 0.2 to 1.2 N and sliding speed ranged from 10 to 60 mm/s. Friction coefficients of the skin on dorsum manus, palm, foreland, extensor and flexor aspects of forearm didn’t show significant difference between male and female in nature status, however, the friction coefficient of cheek of female was much higher than that of male. Differences of friction coefficients of all measured parts between male and female were lower than that after cosmetics treatment.

Key words: human skin, frictional property apparatus, normal load, sliding speed, friction

Author: Dai Zhendong, Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China

E-mail: zddai@nuaa.edu.cn

Tribology, Vol. 29, Issue 6, 2009, 489~493