On the origin and bifurcations of stick-slip oscillations

A recently proposed model of macroscopic friction is investigated using methods of dynamical systems analysis. Particular emphasis is put on the bifurcations associated with the appearance of stick-slip oscillations. In the model it is found that the existence of these oscillations is a result of a periodic orbit straddling a discontinuity in the first derivative of the vector field. A local analysis tool is developed to discuss the stability of...