Research on the Fretting Contact between an Elastic-Plastic Hemisphere and a Rigid Flat

A finite element model is developed to simulate the fretting contact between an elastic-plastic hemisphere and a rigid flat. The fretting behaviors without considering the material fracture are firstly investigated. Elastic shakedown and plastic shakedown which, respectively, resulted from a cyclic tangential force and displacement loading, are observed. For the latter cases, a continuous accumulation of the plastic strain is noticed in the contact area, which is expected and later confirmed to cause fatigue failure. A modified element deletion method is proposed to investigate the surface damage based on the ductile fracture of contact junction. With the two introduced fracture models, the fretting wear is simulated, and the formation mechanism of wear scar is summarized on the basis of the predicted damage behaviors.