Numerical modelling of fretting fatigue

Fretting fatigue is a consequence of small oscillatory movement between two contacting parts. This type of damage may give rise to significant reduction in fatigue life of the components. Many parameters such as contact geometry, contact load, friction, material strength and hardness can influence the resistance of materials against fretting damage. Experimental study of fretting fatigue parameters such as crack length measurement at the initial stages of crack growth is either very difficult or not very accurate. Numerical simulations provide a suitable tool for parametric study of fretting fatigue behavior of materials and in particular crack growth measurement. In this work, the effect of pad geometry on crack propagation is investigated by numerical simulation. The simulations are carried out using the finite element codes ANSYS and FRANC2D/L and are validated by the results of some fretting fatigue tests. It is shown that the simulations can predict the crack growth and the number of cycles from the principals of fracture mechanics.