Recent developments in the understanding of fretting fatigue

D Nowell,D Dini,D.A Hills

doi:10.1016/j.engfracmech.2005.01.013

Abstract

Considerable progress has been made in the understanding of fretting fatigue over the last decade. Experiments have become more standardised and carefully controlled and this has provided the data necessary for development of methods for predicting fretting fatigue performance. This paper reviews a number of recent developments, starting with attempts to apply multiaxial initiation criteria to the fretting problem. The importance of the size effect is highlighted and an analogy is made between fretting and notch fatigue. Methods for characterising crack initiation using asymptotic analysis are discussed, together with short crack arrest concepts which provide a means of predicting fretting fatigue limits from plain fatigue data.

Highlights

The phenomenon of ‘fretting’ has been recognised and studied for well over a century
A number of attempts have been made to apply multiaxial initiation parameters to fretting fatigue, but it is recognised that the stress gradients present are frequently very high and it is necessary to average the parameters or the underlying stresses over a representative volume in order to capture the experimentally observed size effect
In characterising the initiation problem a number of parallels have been drawn between fretting fatigue and notch fatigue

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of ‘fretting’ has been recognised and studied for well over a century. Attempts to apply more general fatigue parameters to the fretting problem have often started by recognising the inherent multiaxial nature of the stress field.

Results

Conclusion