Investigation into the effects of tangential force on fretting fatigue based on XFEM

• Effects of tangential force on fretting fatigue are studied using XFEM.
• Increasing tangential force can increase the depth of knee point.
• Increasing tangential force can decrease fretting fatigue life.
• Tangential force affects the percentage of crack growth life in total life.

Tangential force is one of the most important factors which affect fretting fatigue. In the present paper, the effects of tangential force on fretting fatigue of Al 2024-T351 alloy specimens are investigated by employing extended finite element method combined with cyclic cohesive zone model. It is shown that increasing tangential force can increase the depth of knee point. However, crack initiation life, crack growth life and total fatigue life decrease with the increase of tangential force. In addition, tangential force influences the percentage of crack initiation life and crack growth life in total fatigue life.