Introduction of a fretting-fatigue mapping concept: Development of a dual crack nucleation – crack propagation approach to formalize fretting-fatigue damage

Fretting-fatigue induced by combined localized cyclic contact motion and external bulk fatigue loadings may result in premature and dramatic failure of the contacting components. Depending on fretting and fatigue loading conditions, crack nucleation and possibly crack propagation can be activated. This paper proposes a procedure for estimating these two damage thresholds. The crack nucleation boundary is formalized by applying the Crossland high cycle fatigue criterion taking into account the stress gradient and the ensuing “size effect”. The prediction of the crack propagation condition is formalized using a short crack arrest description. Applied to a AISI 1034 steel, this methodology allows the development of an original material response fretting-fatigue map, where the different material responses related to crack nucleation, crack arrest and catastrophic failure are established and formalized.