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. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.