Mechanism and prediction method of fretting damage in involute spline couplings of aero-engine

Abstract

Aiming at the serious fretting damage and failure of aviation involute spline couplings, this work proposes the fretting damage mechanism of involute spline couplings of aero-engine based on previous theories. The optimized Archard wear volume model and Smith-Watson-Topper critical surface method are used to establish the fretting damage prediction model of involute spline couplings of aero-engine. On this basis, the law of fretting damage is analyzed and its mechanism is verified by finite element simulation and experiment. The results show that the fretting damage failure mode of involute spline couplings of aero-engine is mainly fretting wear, fretting fatigue and fretting wear compete and influence each other. With the increase of contact stress and sliding distance, the fretting damage degree increases, but when it reaches a certain critical value, the fretting damage degree decreases. The fretting damage degree increases with the increase of angle mismatch and friction coefficient. The theory is in good agreement with the actual results, which provides a feasible way to study the fretting damage mechanism of other spline couplings.