Sound generated by rubbing objects

In the present paper, we investigate the properties of the sound generated by rubbing two objects. It is clear that the sound is generated because of the rubbing between the contacting rough surfaces of the objects. A model is presented to account for the role played by the surface roughness. The results indicate that tonal features of the sound can be generated due to the finiteness of the rubbing surfaces. In addition, the analysis shows that with increasing rubbing speed, more and more high frequency tones can be excited and the frequency band gets broader and broader, a feature which appears to agree with our intuition or experience.