A fretting test apparatus for measuring friction hysteresis of bolted joints

This paper focuses on an experimental investigation of the mechanical behavior of bolted joints. A new test apparatus to measure friction hysteresis was designed to provide a reliable experimental database for the calibration of contact models. This apparatus uses a piezoelectric actuator to provide the contact interfaces with stable oscillatory relative displacement. The friction force and the bolt preload were continuously measured during the test, using a load cell and a force washer, respectively. The relative motion between the interfaces was measured using a single laser vibrometer. The influence of the bolt preload and excitation amplitude on friction hysteresis was investigated. A numerical model was developed to extract the tangential contact stiffness from the measured data. [Display omitted] •A fretting test apparatus is developed for studying friction hysteresis of bolted joints.•The tangential contact force and the relative displacement are measured using a load cell and a laser vibrometer with a prism, respectively.•The bolt preload is recorded using a force washer.•A numerical analysis is conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the measurement.