Rolling friction and bistability of rolling motion

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The rolling motion of a rigid cylinder on an inclined flat viscous surface is investigated and the nonlinear resistance force against rolling, Fᵣ(v), is derived. For small velocities Fᵣ(v) increases with velocity due to increasing deformation rate of the surface material. For larger velocity it decreases with velocity due to decreasing contact area between the rolling cylinder and the deformed surface. The cylinder is, moreover, subjected to a viscous drag force and stochastic fluctuations due to a surrounding medium (air). For this system, in a wide range of parameters we observe bistability of the rolling motion. Depending on the material parameters, increasing the noise level may lead to increasing or decreasing average velocity.