Benjamin WEILAND : "Tactile tribology and perception of textured surfaces"

Benjamin WEILAND PhD works : "Tactile tribology and perception of textured surfaces".

Abstract:  The coding of tactile information, as opposed to visual and acoustic, is still misunderstood. This PhD work is focused on the initial phenomena which lead to emit an opinion on the perception of an explored surface. The originality of the work relies on four methodological pillars: (i) the complete characterization of the finger pad properties; (ii) the elaboration and characterization of a variety of determinist textured surfaces at the submillimeter scale; (iii) the in vivo characterization of the frictional and vibratory behavior of the contact between a finger pad and a textured surface together with a numeric study on the contact mechanics; (iv) the characterization of the tactile perception by a panel of volunteers. It is shown that even though the surfaces are textured, the friction coefficient between these surfaces and a human finger is mostly driven by adhesion in the contact. A second major outcome concerns the physical phenomena which influence the tactile perception. First, it appears that the textured surfaces used in this study can be discriminated according to three psychoperceptive dimensions: “slippery”, “vibrating” and “rough”. Then, the intensity of the slippery perception is solely driven by the friction coefficient, while the vibrating perception is driven by both the friction coefficient and the friction induced vibrations. Finally, the intensity of the roughness perception depends solely geometric features of the texture asperities.

Jury composition :

M.Emmanuel FOLTETE, Professeur des Universités, Université Bourgogne - Franche-Comté, PhD Director

Mme Marie-Ange BUENO, Professeur des Universités, Université Haute-Alsace, Reporter

Benyebka BOU-SAÏD, Professeur des Universités, INSA-Lyon Reporter

M. Francesco MASSI Professeur Université de Rome La Sapienza, Reviewer

Mme Jenny FAUCHEU, Professeur des Universités, École des mines de Saint-Etienne, Reviewer

M. Éric CHATELET, Maître de conférences, INSA-Lyon, Reviewer

M. Pierre-Henri CORNUAULT, Maître de conférences ENSMM, PhD Co-director

M. Luc CARPENTIER, Maître de conférences, UFC – IUT Besançon Vesoul, PhD Co-director 

Localization : Amphithéâtre Pierre Mesnage - ENSMM - 24, Rue de l'Epitaphe - 25000 Besançon