Influence of fretting on flexural fatigue of 304 stainless steel and mild steel
Fretting fatigue experiments conducted on 304 stainless steel using a flexural fatigue test arrangement with bolted on fretting pads demonstrated that fatigue life is reduced by at least a factor of 10 in the 265 to 334 MPa (38,500 - to 48,500 psi) nominal flexural fatigue stress range. In addition, experiments in which the fretting pads were removed after selected numbers of cycles, followed by continued flexural fatigue without fretting show that continued fretting beyond 50,000 cycles does not significantly further reduce fatigue life of 304 stainless steel at 317 MPa (46,000 psi). Microscopic examination of the fretted contact areas revealed fracture initiation sites as well as numerous cracks that did not propagate to failure. Flexural fretting fatigue experiments performed on mild steel showed an insensitivity of fatigue life to the incidence of fretting under flexural stress conditions of from 162 to 217 MPa (23,500 to 31,500 psi).