FRICTION MECHANISMS OF OVERLAPPED SHEETS OF TWO BOOKS UNDER HORIZONTAL UNIAXIAL TENSION

Combining two books by overlapping alternately their sheets, the integrated structure generates a great friction between the paper sheets when both spines are under horizontal tensile force. The correlation between the length of overlapping and the number of sheets of overlapping is obtained by experiments. A semitheoretical and semi-empirical friction calculation formula is obtained by the MATLAB numerical simulation and the predictions are in good agreement with the experimental data. The formula could provide a reasonable and reliable prediction of the ultimate bearing capacity for the integrated structure.