Characterization of fretting fatigue crack initiation processes in CR Ti–6Al–4V

A study was conducted to quantify fretting fatigue damage and to evaluate the residual fatigue strength of specimens subjected to a range of fretting fatigue test conditions. Flat Ti–6Al–4V specimens were tested against flat Ti–6Al–4V fretting pads with blending radii at the edges of contact. Fretting fatigue damage for two combinations of static average clamping stress and applied axial stress was investigated for two percentages of total life. Accumulated damage was characterized using full field surface roughness evaluation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of fretting fatigue on uniaxial fatigue strength was quantified by interrupting fretting fatigue tests, and conducting uniaxial residual fatigue strength tests at R=0.5 at 300 Hz. Results from the residual fatigue strength tests were correlated with characterization results.While surface roughness measurements, evaluated in terms of asperity height and asperity spacing, reflected changes in the specimen surfaces as a result of fretting fatigue cycling, those changes did not correspond to decreases in residual fatigue strength. Neither means of evaluating surface roughness was able to identify cracks observed during SEM characterization. Residual fatigue strength decreased only in the presence of fretting fatigue cracks with surface lengths of 150 μm or greater, regardless of contact condition or number of applied fretting fatigue cycles. No cracks were observed on specimens tested at the lower stress condition. Threshold stress intensity factors were calculated for cracks identified during SEM characterization. The resulting values were consistent with the threshold identified for naturally initiated cracks that were stress relieved to remove load history effects.     

Behavior of alloy Ti–6Al–4V under pre-fretting and subsequent fatigue conditions

The mechanical behavior and microstructural changes in Ti–6Al–4V were determined in fretting tests, followed by axial fatigue tests. Prior to fatigue testing, specimens were subjected to fretting conditions over a range of contact stresses and fretting displacements. Fretting frequency was 100 Hz. High cycle fatigue (HCF) tests were run at 1000 Hz. The fretting test involved a flat-on-flat, bare Ti–6Al–4V/bare Ti–6Al–4V fretting system. The fretting process typically generated very shallow surface cracks at the ends of the wear scar. Subsequently, these shallow cracks were observed to propagate in axial fatigue tests, reducing the fatigue life significantly. Evidence of frictional heating during fretting was observed in the formation of scale-like oxide in the wear scar. Formation of oxides appeared to increase with increasing contact stress. Increased oxygen content was detected in the near surface regions of specimens. Large near surface deformation was typically observed within the wear scar. The contact geometry and slight tilting of the stationary fretting pad influenced the character of the fretting scar and the fretting-induced cracking. Fracture surfaces exhibited featureless, battered surfaces at the crack origins followed by (a) cleavage-type crack propagation, (b) formation of fatigue striations, and (c) final ductile tearing.     

Characterization of fretting wear behavior of Cu–Al coating on Ti–6Al–4V substrate

Fretting wear and fretting fatigue are two commonly observed material damages when two contacting bodies with a clamping load are under the oscillatory motion. In this study, fretting wear damage of Cu–Al coating on titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V substrate was investigated using the dissipated energy approach. Fretting tests were conducted with either no fatigue load or the maximum fatigue load of 300 MPa and stress ratio of 0.1 on the substrate (specimen). In order to investigate the effect of contact load and contact size, different pad sizes and contact loads were used in the tests. Accumulated dissipated energy versus wear volume data showed a linear relationship regardless of fatigue loading condition on specimen with the smaller pad size. However, two separate linear relationships were observed based on the fatigue loading condition with the larger pad size, such that a relatively more dissipated energy was required for a certain amount of wear with fatigue load on the specimen. The linear relationship between the accumulated dissipated energy and wear volume for both pad sizes extended from partial to gross slip regimes and was not affected by the applied contact load. Further, fretting tests with and without fatigue load resulted in different shapes of fretting loops when the larger pad size was used.     

An experimental study on bending fretting fatigue characteristics of 316L austenitic stainless steel

Bending fretting fatigue tests of 316L austenitic stainless steel plates against 52100 steel cylinders have been carried out under same normal load and varied bending loads. Tests of plain bending fatigue were carried out as a control group. The S-N curves of the bending fatigue were made. The results indicated that there was an obvious drop of life under the condition of bending fretting fatigue due to higher local contact stress. A dislocation model of micro-crack nucleation mechanism, as a manner of zig-zag mode, was created to explain the nucleation of fretting fatigue cracks.     

Fretting fatigue life estimations based on fretting mechanisms

Generally the fretting fatigue S-N curve has two regions: one is the high cycle (low stress) region and the second is the low cycle (high stress) region. In a previous paper we introduced the fretting fatigue life estimation methods in high cycle region by considering the wear process; with this estimation method the fretting fatigue limit can be estimated to be the crack initiation limit at the contact edge. In this paper we estimate the low cycle fretting fatigue life based on a new critical distance theory, modified for a high stress region using ultimate tensile strength σ_B and fracture toughness K_IC. The critical distance for estimating low cycle fretting fatigue strength was calculated by interpolation of the critical distance on the fretting fatigue limit (estimated from σ_w0 and ΔK_th) with critical distance on static strength (estimated from σ_B and K_IC). By unifying this low cycle fretting fatigue life estimation method with the high cycle fretting fatigue life estimation method, which was presented in the previous paper, we can estimate the total fretting life easily. And to confirm the availability of this estimation method we perform the fretting fatigue test using Ni-Mo-V steel.     

New results for the fretting-induced stress concentration on Hertzian and flat rounded contacts

Recent work on fretting fatigue has emphasized the role of stress concentration on fretting damage, while previous work had concentrated on empirical parameters to assess influence of fretting on fatigue life. In particular, analogies with fatigue in the presence of a crack or a notch have been noticed, suggesting that the stress field induced by frictional contact per se may explain the reduction of fatigue life due to fretting.In the paper, new analytical and numerical solutions are produced for the stress concentration induced in typical fretting contacts involving the Hertzian geometry or the flat punch with rounded corners in view of application to the dovetail joints. Normal and tangential load (in the Cattaneo–Mindlin sense) is considered with “moderate” or “large” bulk stresses.     

Effect of dissimilar mating materials and contact force on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti–6Al–4V

Fretting fatigue behavior of a titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V, in contact with two pad materials having quite differing values of hardness and elastic modulus (aluminum alloy 2024 and Inconel 718) using “cylinder-on-flat” configuration was investigated at different applied stress levels and contact forces. Applied contact forces for both pad materials were selected to provide two Hertzian peak pressures of 292 and 441 MPa. Finite element analyses of all tests were also conducted which showed that an increase in contact force resulted in a smaller relative slip amplitude and a larger width of stick zone. These two factors, along with the lower coefficient of friction during fretting, resulted in less fretting damage on the contact surface of specimen subjected to higher contact force relative to that at lower contact force regardless of the hardness difference of mating materials. Also, an increase in hardness resulted in greater fretting damage on the contact surface of specimens only at higher contact force. Further, the fretting fatigue life decreased with an increase of applied contact force at higher applied effective stress, while it increased at lower applied effective stress with both pad materials. These observations suggest that there is complex interaction among hardness difference between mating surfaces, relative slip amplitude, and stress state in the contact region during fretting fatigue of dissimilar materials.     

Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Validation of Fretting Wear Scars in a Press-Fitted Shaft with an Open Zone

A finite element (FE)-based method was developed for simulating the fretting wear scar in a press-fitted shaft with an open zone. The method is based on the energy wear approach and is implemented via the commercial FE code ABAQUS. The effects of open zone, mesh size, cycle jumps technique, and increments per fretting cycle were investigated for optimization of this methodology. The results show that when assuming that the surface profile can be changed only in the open zone, the FE wear model gives a good prediction of the scar width. The mesh size has a great influence on the dimensions and shape of the scar profile; when the mesh size is about 3% of the width of the wear scar for a press-fitted shaft, the best compromise between the wear scar shape and the computational time can be achieved. For the cycle jump ΔN, an optimum value of 3,000 is found; above this value, the depth of the fretting wear scar increases rapidly with increasing ΔN. The impact of increments per fretting cycle on the depth of the predicted wear scar is small by comparison with cycle jump ΔN. The results of the optimized model are validated with respect to the experimental data obtained in the interrupted fretting fatigue tests. The FE wear model can provide an accurate prediction of the maximum wear depth and the width of fretting wear scar. The predicted wear depth inside of the contact is slightly larger than that found experimentally.     

Fretting fatigue behaviour of Ti–6Al–4V alloy under plane bending stress and contact stress

Fretting fatigue tests for Ti–6Al–4 V alloy were conducted by use of the plate fatigue specimen with bolt-tightened shoe on both sides of the plate. It was clarified that the repeated bending stress at the contact area where fretting fatigue failure starts linearly decreased as stress over the contact area increased. Fretting fatigue crack starts from the pit where stress concentrate. The pit initiates when fretting debris were removed from the surface striation formed due to the contact slip movement. The fretting fatigue crack initiation mode was transgranular, while the fretting fatigue crack propagation mode was striation.     

Effect of contact load on fretting fatigue behaviour of steel wires

Abstract

The tension–tension fretting fatigue tests of steel wires were performed on a self-made fretting fatigue test equipment under contact loads ranging from 40 to 70 N and a strain ratio of 0·8. The results showed that when the contact load increased, the fretting regime of steel wires transformed from gross slip regime to mixed fretting regime. The fretting fatigue life in the mixed fretting regime was significantly lower than that in the gross slip regime. The main fretting wear mechanisms in the gross slip regime, where there were serious fretting damage and a lot of wear debris, were abrasive wear and fatigue wear. Microcracks were observed in the fretting scar of the mixed fretting regime, and the main fretting wear mechanisms were adhesive and fatigue wears. The fretting wear scar was the fatigue source region, and the fatigue fracture surface could be divided into three regions.     

Effect of surface treatments on fretting fatigue damage of biomedical titanium alloys

Fretting fatigue is an adhesive wear damage caused by tangential micromotion under normal force at contact areas. It is observed along the contact points of hip implants and bone plates. Surface-modified biomedical titanium alloys offer better resistance against fretting damage. PVD TiN coatings and plasma nitriding have proved effective in minimizing friction and delaying the failure of materials. In the present study, attempt has been made to explain the fretting fatigue failure mechanism sequence of PVD TiN-coated and plasma-nitrided Ti–6Al–4V and Ti–6Al–4V couple through friction measurement and microscopic examination.     

Modeling of geometry effects in fretting fatigue

The stress field that results from two bodies in contact is an important aspect that governs the fretting fatigue behavior of materials. Applied loads as well as contact geometries influence the contact stresses. The profile of an indenter and the boundary conditions provide sufficient information from which the surface tractions and the corresponding subsurface stresses have been calculated in a semi-infinite halfspace using singular integral equations. In this investigation, a numerical subroutine was developed to calculate the surface tractions and the corresponding surface and subsurface stresses of an arbitrary finite thickness infinite plate subjected to loading through a random indenter. The results from the detailed stress analysis of the contact region are required by both an initiation and fracture mechanics approach. While initiation criteria involving stress gradient fields, such as sharp notches and edges of contact in fretting fatigue, are not well established or agreed upon, stress intensity factor calculations using tools such as weight functions are more reliable. The stress intensity analysis, which is used to determine whether an initiated crack will continue to grow if it is above the threshold, depends on many variables in the stress analysis such as pad and specimen geometry, loading configuration and friction coefficient. The contact stress analysis has been used to determine equivalent stress parameters that are related to the initiation of a crack. Similarly the numerical subroutine for the contact stresses is used in conjunction with the stress intensity analysis to determine the influence of the geometry, loading configuration and friction coefficient on the stress intensity factor. Results from high-cycle fretting fatigue experiments are used to determine the threshold stress intensity factor for a given configuration. The combination of the numerical and experimental analysis is then used to develop a tool for high-cycle fretting fatigue based on a threshold approach involving a go–no go criterion.     

An experimental study torsional fretting behaviors of LZ50 steel

Four simple fretting modes are defined according to relative motion: tangential, radial, rotational, and torsional fretting. This paper presents a new test rig that was developed from a low-speed reciprocating rotary system to show torsional fretting wear under ball-on-flat contact. Torsional fretting behavior was investigated for LZ50 steel flats against AISI52100 steel balls under various angular displacement amplitudes and normal loads. The friction torques and dissipation energy were analyzed in detail. Two types of T–θ curves in the shape of quasi-parallelograms and ellipticals were found that correspond to gross and partial slips, respectively. The experimental results showed that the dynamic behavior and damage processes depend strongly on the normal loads, angular displacement amplitudes, and cycles. In this paper, the debris and oxidation behaviors and detachment of particles in partial and gross slip regimes are also discussed. Debris and oxidation are shown to have important roles during the torsional fretting processes. The wear mechanism of torsional fretting was a combination of abrasive and oxidative wear and delamination before third-body bed formation. The mechanism was then transformed into third-body wear after a great amount of debris formed.     

Effect of contact pressure on fretting fatigue of austenitic stainless steel

The effect of contact pressure on fretting fatigue in solution-treated austenitic stainless steel was studied. With an increase in contact pressure, fretting fatigue life was almost unchanged at low contact pressures, however it decreased drastically at high contact pressures. At low contact pressures, stress concentration due to fretting damage occurred at the middle portion of the fretted area and the main crack responsible for failure was initiated there. At high contact pressures, concavity was formed at the fretted area without accompanying heavy wear. The main crack was initiated at the outer edge corner of the concavity which probably acted as a notch. Plain fatigue prior to the fretting fatigue test increased the fretting fatigue life at high contact pressures since the concavity formation was suppressed by the cyclic strain hardening.     

带有微动磨损缺口钢丝的疲劳特性

在自制的微动磨损试验机上进行钢丝的微动磨损试验,将微动磨损后的钢丝试样在液压伺服疲劳试验机上进行不同应力比和不同应力幅下的疲劳试验。结果表明,钢丝的微动磨损深度随微动时间和接触载荷的增加而增加,磨损缺口处的应力集中使其成为了裂纹萌生源,也使钢丝试样的疲劳寿命大大降低,微动磨损后钢丝试样的疲劳寿命和磨损深度呈反比关系。通过钢丝疲劳断口的SEM形貌分析了其疲劳断裂机制,断口对应不同的疲劳阶段,可分为裂纹萌生区、裂纹扩展区和裂纹瞬断区。     

A fracture mechanics life prediction methodology applied to dovetail fretting

This work evaluates a fracture mechanics based crack growth life prediction methodology for dovetail fretting fatigue laboratory experiments. The Ti–6Al–4V specimens were configured with angles of 35°, 45° and 55°. Experiments were conducted with constant amplitude loading at R of 0.1 and 0.5 with lives ranging from 100,000 to 10 million cycles. The approach included the contact loads and bulk stress calculated from the finite element method as inputs to the stress and life analysis. Contact stresses were calculated using the contact stress analysis software CAPRI. These stresses were input into a stress intensity factor calculation at the edge of contact. Crack propagation life was calculated from an assumed initial crack size. Analysis showed that propagation consumes a majority of the total life and is insensitive to a large range of initial crack sizes.     

Progression of fretting fatigue damage in Ti–6Al–4V

An investigation was conducted to explore the nature of fretting fatigue damage in the stages prior to crack formation. In the unique experimental apparatus employed in this study, where total slip never occurs, several locations on each test specimen exist where cracks can develop due to local contact conditions. Under the test conditions used, not all of the sites had cracks upon test completion. This study evaluated the condition of non-cracked sites on several fretted specimens in an effort to identify differences between these and sites where small cracks were observed.A single test condition of 620 MPa average applied static clamping stress and 250 MPa applied axial fatigue stress for R=0.5 was selected, which corresponds to a fretting fatigue life of 10⁷ cycles based on prior work. For specimens tested to 10⁶ cycles, or 10% of life, several destructive and non-destructive characterization methods were chosen: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), residual stress measurement and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Each site at which crack nucleation could be expected was inspected in the SEM and was then characterized using surface X-ray diffraction to quantify the residual stresses field near that location. Then TEM foils were cut from one area on a specimen with tiny cracks and dislocation densities were observed. A novel technique was used which permitted TEM samples to be obtained from regions in close proximity on the original specimen.Comparisons were made between as-received (AR) and stress-relief annealed (SRA) specimens, on which the stress-relief was applied prior to fretting fatigue testing. SEM inspection was useful for qualitative analysis of wear debris and identification of cracks as small as 20 μm, but was unable to provide quantitative data on the level of fretting fatigue damage beyond crack size. Although differences were noted in the residual stresses for the SRA versus the AR specimens, no residual stress peaks were noted in the edge of contact regions where cracks would eventually develop. TEM observations in the vicinity of the crack nucleation region showed that the dislocation structure decayed rapidly into the specimen thickness. The cause of the dislocations was attributed to plastic deformation caused by the clamping stresses.     

Fretting fatigue of zinc coated low carbon steel EN H320 M

The object of the present study was to investigate the influence of zinc coatings on steel sheets during fretting fatigue and fatigue tests. The influence of the fatigue stress range, normal pressure and amplitude of slip, on the fracture life was studied for both coated and uncoated EN H320 M steel. The wear produced by fretting was measured and compared with the fracture life evolution for different values of slip amplitude. The wear scars and the fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy to identify the degradation mechanism. Although zinc films do not influence the fatigue life of the tested steel, when fretting is superposed on to a fatigue stress the coating markedly improves the fracture life.     

Investigation into effects and interaction of various fretting fatigue variables under slip-controlled mode

Fretting fatigue behavior of unpeened and shot-peened Ti–6Al–4 V was investigated using a dual-actuator test setup which was capable of applying an independent pad displacement while maintaining a constant cyclic load on the specimen. The fretting regime was identified based on the shape of the hysteresis loop of tangential force versus relative slip range and the evolution of normalized tangential force. The fretting regime changed from stick to partial slip and then to gross slip with increasing relative slip range, and the transition from partial to gross slip occurred at a relative slip range of 50–60 μm regardless of the applied cyclic load, surface treatment, contact load and contact geometry. The fretting fatigue life initially decreased as the relative slip range increased and reached a minimum value, and then increased with increase of the relative slip range due to the transition in fretting regime from partial slip to gross slip. Shot-peened specimens had longer fatigue life than unpeened specimens at a given relative slip range, but the minimum fatigue life was found to be at the same value of relative slip range for both shot-peened and unpeened specimens. Tangential force was directly related to relative slip and this relationship was independent of other fretting variables.