Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Validation of Fretting Wear Scars in a Press-Fitted Shaft with an Open Zone

Abstract

ABSTRACT A finite element (FE)-based method was developed for simulating the fretting wear scar in a press-fitted shaft with an open zone. The method is based on the energy wear approach and is implemented via the commercial FE code ABAQUS. The effects of open zone, mesh size, cycle jumps technique, and increments per fretting cycle were investigated for optimization of this methodology. The results show that when assuming that the surface profile can be changed only in the open zone, the FE wear model gives a good prediction of the scar width. The mesh size has a great influence on the dimensions and shape of the scar profile; when the mesh size is about 3% of the width of the wear scar for a press-fitted shaft, the best compromise between the wear scar shape and the computational time can be achieved. For the cycle jump ΔN, an optimum value of 3,000 is found; above this value, the depth of the fretting wear scar increases rapidly with increasing ΔN. The impact of increments per fretting cycle on the depth of the predicted wear scar is small by comparison with cycle jump ΔN. The results of the optimized model are validated with respect to the experimental data obtained in the interrupted fretting fatigue tests. The FE wear model can provide an accurate prediction of the maximum wear depth and the width of fretting wear scar. The predicted wear depth inside of the contact is slightly larger than that found experimentally.