THE APPLICATION OF FRACTURE MECHANICS TO FRETTING FATIGUE

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Abstract
Abstract—A fracture mechanics model of fretting fatigue has been developed. This enables the calculation of the critical size of defect which can grow under fretting conditions. The model has been applied to the fretting of aluminium alloy 2014A fatigue specimens in contact with 3.5NiCrMoV steel fretting contact pads. The input parameters to the model include externally applied stresses, contact pressure between pad and specimen and frictional forces between the two contacting surfaces. The latter have been measured using a strain gauge technique. Small fretting defects in the fatigue specimens have been investigated metallographically and fractographically. There is good agreement between their size and critical defect sizes calculated using the fretting model.