We study effects of pinning on the dynamics of a vortex lattice in a type II superconductor in the strong-pinning situation and determine the force--velocity (or current--voltage) characteristic combining analytical and numerical methods. Our analysis deals with a small density $n_p$ of defects that act with a large force $f_p$ on the vortices, thereby inducing bistable configurations that are a characteristic feature of strong pinning theory. We determine the velocity-dependent average pinning-force density $langle F_p(v)rangle$ and find that it changes on the velocity scale $v_p sim f_p/eta a_0^3$, where $eta$ is the viscosity of vortex motion and $a_0$ the distance between vortices. In the small pin-density limit, this velocity is much larger than the typical flow velocity $v_c sim F_c/eta$ of the free vortex system at drives near the critical force-density $F_c = langle F_p(v=0)rangle propto n_p f_p$. As a result, we find a generic excess-force characteristic, a nearly linear force--velocity characteristic shifted by the critical force-density $F_c$; the linear flux-flow regime is approached only at large drives. Our analysis provides a derivation of Coulombs law of dry friction for the case of strong vortex pinning.
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