Analysis of crack initiation location and its influencing factors of fretting fatigue in aluminum alloy components

To promote the development of fretting fatigue assessment and control technology for aircraft components, this paper uses the Crystal Plasticity Finite Element (CPFE) method and sub-modeling technology to study the Crack Initiation Location (CIL) of fretting fatigue in Aluminum Alloy (AA) specimens. The effects of external excitations such as normal load, tangential load, and axial stress on the CIL are investigated. It is found that the Most Likely Cracked (MLC) site revealed in a specimen and the CIL may always be consistent after a limited number of cyclic loadings, and they are both located at the hotspot on the contact surface or in the subsurface. The MLC site may also migrate from the hotspot on the contact surface to the hotspot in the subsurface with an increase of the cyclic number, and finally transform into a CIL. The relationship between the MLC site and the CIL of fretting fatigue and its influencing factors have also been described, as well as the identification method of the CIL of fretting fatigue, which provide theoretical and technical supports for anti-fretting fatigue design of AA components in service.