Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993

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Materials and Design

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Short Communication

Fretting–fatigue behavior of steel wires in low cycle fatigue

Dagang Wang a,c, Dekun Zhang b,⇑, Shirong Ge a
a
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
b
School of Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Daxue Road, Xuzhou 221116, China
c
Chair of Technical Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal 42119, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effect of strain amplitude on fretting–fatigue behavior of steel wires in low cycle fatigue was inves-
Received 25 April 2011 tigated using a fretting–fatigue test rig which was capable of applying a constant normal contact load.
Accepted 20 June 2011 The fretting regime was identified based on the shape of the hysteresis loop of tangential force versus
Available online 25 June 2011
displacement amplitude. The variations of the normalized tangential force with increasing cycle numbers
and fretting–fatigue lives at different strain amplitudes were explored. The morphologies of fretting con-
tact scars after fretting–fatigue tests were observed by scanning electron microscopy and optical micros-
copy to examine the failure mechanisms of steel wires. The acoustic emission technique was used to
characterize the fretting–fatigue damage in the fretting–fatigue test. The results show that the fretting
regimes are all located in mixed fretting regimes at different strain amplitudes. The increase in strain
amplitude increases the normalized tangential force and decreases the fretting fatigue life. The abrasive
wear, adhesive wear and fatigue wear are main wear mechanisms for all fretting–fatigue tests at different
strain amplitudes. The accumulative total acoustic emission events during fretting–fatigue until fracture
of the tensile steel wire decrease with increasing strain amplitude. An increase of the strain amplitude
results in the accelerated crack nucleation and propagation and thereby the decreased life.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of lubrication and zinc coating on the fretting–fatigue behavior of

Hoisting rope is an important component of the winding equip-
ment in coalmine, because its intensity and fatigue life have great
effect on the reliability level of winder operations [1,2]. Structur-
ally, hoisting rope is twisted tightly between strands and strands,
wires and wires. When the hoist is running, the rope is subjected
to axial cyclic stretching load and cyclic bending load on the drum
and guide wheel, which results in the relative sliding among the
strands and wires and thereby the fretting wear between steel
wires. The interaction of fretting wear and cyclic stress causes
the crack initiation, propagation and final fracture, i.e. fretting–
fatigue, which increases fatigue failure of steel wire rope [3–6].
Therefore, reducing the fretting–fatigue damage of steel wires
has been considered as an effective method to prolong the service
life of hoisting rope.
Périera et al. [7] conducted the study of fretting–fatigue behav-
ior of bridge engineering cables in a solution of sodium chloride.
He concluded that there was no significant influence of the NaCl
solution in terms of lifespan, but the presence of corrosion prod-
ucts was observed at the micro-scars and fracture surfaces in
comparison with the results of fretting–fatigue tests carried out
in air. Urvoy et al. [8] and Dieng et al. [9] investigated the effect
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 516 83591918; fax: +86 516 83591916.
E-mail address: dkzhang@cumt.edu.cn (D. Zhang).
high strength steel wires. They found that the endurance limits
of smooth, galvanized and lubricated wires in the fretting–fatigue
process were 100 MPa, 170 MPa and 250 MPa, respectively. Siegert
et al. [10] showed that the reduction of fatigue limit for the cable
was caused by the friction force between steel wires in fretting–
fatigue. Giglio and Manes [11] reported several analytical formula-
tions to estimate the state of stress in the internal and external
wires of a rope. Siegert [12] determined the normal contact force
in a multilayer strand and the relative displacement amplitude
between wires. Then a fretting–fatigue device was developed; it
aimed at reproducing the contact fatigue conditions in spiral
strands undergoing free bending deformation. Hobbs and Raoof
[13] explored different mechanisms of inter-wire fretting–fatigue
inside steel cables under different modes of external cyclic loading.
Then he determined interwire/interlayer contact forces and associ-
ated relative displacements in practical large-diameter spiral
strands using some straightforward formulations. Páczelt and
Beleznai [14] proposed p-extension concept in the finite element
method for simple straight two-layered wire rope strand, and
calculated the contact stress and deformation using Hertz-theory
in the case of line and point contacts. Jiang et al. [15] analyzed
the one-layered strand under tension and torsion and derived the
contact forces between steel wires. From the literature study
mentioned above, it is found that the previous efforts have been
focused on investigating fretting–fatigue behaviors of steel wires

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2011.06.037
 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993 4987

in high cycle fatigue or on determining fretting–fatigue parame-

ters. However, little research has been carried out on the fret-
(a)
ting–fatigue behavior of steel wires in low cycle fatigue.
Nowadays, the frequent broken-rope accident in mine hoisting
results in the accident of cage crashing, which severely endangers
the personnel life security and affects the normal mine production.
During the degradation process of the rope before the broken-rope
accident, the internal steel wires are subjected to the stretching
stress beyond their yield stress, which indicates that the fret-
ting–fatigue behavior of steel wires in low cycle fatigue occurs.
The objective of the present study is to investigate the role of strain
amplitude on the fretting–fatigue behavior of steel wires in low
cycle fatigue. Fretting–fatigue tests were carried out on the test
rig. Fretting regime, normalized tangential force and fretting
fatigue life were discussed. The failure mechanisms of steel wires
(b)
due to fretting–fatigue were analyzed by the observation of
morphologies of fretting contact scars and the application of
acoustic emission technique.

2. Fretting–fatigue test rig 1- Tension-compression transducer; 2- Upper jig; 3-Acoustic emission transducer; 4-Wedge-shpaed groove fixture; 5-Upright post; 6-Lower
jig; 7- Piston; 8-Base; 9- Wei ght set; 10- Tension-compression transducer; 11- Load steel wire; 12- Concave horizontal support; 13- Wedge
slide; 14-Tensile steel wire; 15- Load block
Fig. 1 shows a schematic of the fretting–fatigue test rig consist-
ing of the conventional electric–hydraulic servo-controlled fatigue Fig. 1. Schematic of the fretting–fatigue test rig.
testing machine. The ends of the tensile steel wire (14) are fixed at
the upper jig (2) and lower jig (6), respectively. The upper jig (2)
They are cylindrical with the diameter of 1 mm and length of
and lower jig (6) are mounted on the tension–compression trans-
430 mm. The chemical composition and mechanical properties of
ducer (1) and piston (7), respectively. The constant normal contact
the steel wires are given in Table 1.
load is applied using a pair of loading steel wires (11) embedded in
Fretting–fatigue tests of the steel wires at different strain
the wedge slide (13) and the loading block (15) that crosses per-
amplitudes were conducted in laboratory air (approximately
pendicularly the tensile steel wire (14). The normal contact load
20–30% relative humidity) at room temperature and dry friction
is measured by the weight set (9) which pulls the wedge slide
condition after the specimen surfaces had been cleaned with alco-
(13) to apply the normal contact load. The cyclic load and tangen-
hol. The test parameters were summarized in Table 2. The evolu-
tial force are recorded by the tension–compression transducers (1)
tions of hysteresis loops between tangential force and
and (10), respectively. The acoustic emission signals of the tensile
displacement were shown to demonstrate the fretting regime
steel wire (14) are dynamically monitored using the acoustic emis-
characteristics. In order to understand the fretting wear mecha-
sion transducer (3). The fretting amplitude is determined by scal-
nism between steel wires, the normalized tangential force (ratio
ing down the displacement of the tensile steel wire (14). The
of the maximum tangential force during a considered cycle to
fretting–fatigue test rig allowed conducting of the fretting–fatigue
the constant normal contact load) in the fretting–fatigue process
test with a constant normal contact load at an applied cyclic load to
the specimen. Before each test, the loading steel wires (11) were
aligned with respect to the tensile steel wire (14) to ensure consis-
tent contact. The fretting–fatigue test is conducted at the pre- Table 1
scribed normal contact load, frequency and certain displacement. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of the steel
wires.
The tensile steel wire (14) is fatigued through the piston (7) at
the prescribed strain level. During the fretting–fatigue test, the Chemical composition (%)
concave horizontal support (12) can slide in the wedge-shaped Fe 98.71
Mn 0.39
groove fixtures (4) fixed at the upright posts (5) to avoid bending
Si 0.02
of the tensile steel wire (14). The cyclic load, tangential force and Ni 0.01
acoustic emission signals were dynamically recorded by corre- C 0.87
sponding transducers. The normal contact load and fretting ampli- S 0.001
tude can be easily calculated. P <0.001
Mechanical properties
Tensile strength rb (MPa) 1700
3. Experimental details Yield stress (MPa) 1150
Modulus of elasticity (MPa) 2.03  105
Hardness (HV0.1) 365
The steel wires from 6  19 point contact ropes were taken as
Percentage elongation d (%) 1.9
test specimens in the present study. Those wires are manufactured Percentage reduction of area w (%) 50
by the cold drawing process of high quality carbon structural steel.

Table 2
Test parameters.

Fatigue paramaters Fretting parameters

Strain amplitude (ea, %) Strain ratio (R) Cyclic frequency (Hz) Fretting amplitude (D, lm) Contact load (P, N)
0.12, 0.14, 0.16 0.8 5 ±100 50
4988 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993

30 2 3 4 4
Cycle 10 Cycle 10 Cycle 5x10 Cycle 10 Cycle 2x10

20

Tangential force (N)

10 DD DR

-10

-20

-30
-120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120
Displacement (um)
(a) 0.12%
30 2 3 4
Cycle 2x10
4
Cycle 10 Cycle 10 Cycle 10 Cycle 10

20
Tangential force (N)

10

-10

-20

-30
-120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120
Displacement (um)
(b) 0.14%
30 2 3 3 4
Cycle 10 Cycle 10 Cycle 10 Cycle 5x10 Cycle 10

20
Tangential force (N)

10

-10

-20

-30
-110 0 110 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120 -120 0 120
Displacement (um)
(c) 0.16%
Fig. 2. Evolutions of the hysteresis loops of tangential force versus displacement in fretting–fatigue tests at different strain amplitudes.

was recorded. The fretting fatigue lives at different strain ampli- video imaging device. The chemical composition of the fretting
tudes were evaluated. The evolution of the maximum cyclic load contact scar was analyzed by X-ray spectrum analyzer. Morpholo-
with fatigue cycles was obtained to reveal the cyclic softening phe- gies of fretting contact scars of the tensile steel wires were ob-
nomenon. The optical photographs of fretting contact scars of the served by scanning electron microscopy to examine the fretting
contact steel wires were observed by optical microscopy with the wear mechanism. The acoustic emission signals were dynamically
 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993 4989

monitored using the digital acoustic emission detector to investi- 0.6

0.12%
gate the laws of crack nucleation and propagation in fretting– 0.14%
fatigue. 0.16%

Normallized tangential force

4. Results and discussion 0.4

4.1. Fretting regime

The fretting regime can be identified more clearly from the hys-
0.2
teresis loop of tangential force versus displacement. A perfect hys-
teresis loop indicates a gross slip regime, a less opened hysteresis
loop represents a partial slip regime and a line symbolizes a stick
regime [16].
Fig. 2a shows the typical evolution of the hysteresis loops of 0.0
3 4 4 4 4
tangential force versus displacement with fatigue cycles in fret- 0.0 7.0x10 1.4x10 2.1x10 2.8x10 3.5x10
ting–fatigue at the strain amplitude of 0.12%. In the beginning, Number of cycles
gross slip condition (displacement amplitude is composed of a
total deformation part DD and relative slip DR) is present on the Fig. 3. Evolutions of the normalized tangential force with fatigue cycles at different
contact surface, i.e. a perfect hysteresis loop of rectangular shape. strain amplitudes.

As the fatigue cycles increase, the tangential force increases, but

the area inside the hysteresis loop and relative slip range decrease
(wear debris) result in the decrease of the normalized tangential
significantly, which clearly indicates that the partial slip condition
force and the transition to a stabilized value. The stabilized state
develops with a less opened hysteretic loop. After approximately
results from the complex interaction of increased surface roughen-
104 fatigue cycles, the hysteresis loops are of the linear shape with
ing and surface separation [19]. For the strain amplitude of 0.14%,
nearly no relative slip. This clearly indicates that the stick condi-
the evolution mode is similar with that at the strain amplitude of
tion occurs and is maintained until fracture of the tensile steel
0.12%. However, as the strain amplitude increases to 0.16%, the
wire. In this stick regime, the tangential force does not change sig-
normalized tangential force presents the trend of decrease with
nificantly; the displacement amplitude is mainly accommodated
the increase of fatigue cycles. This trend may be induced by large
by the total deformation (elastic and plastic deformations). There-
amounts of debris (third body) and durative crack propagation in
fore, the evolution of the hysteresis loops indicates that the evolu-
the fretting contact interface [20]. Lots of wear debris and severe
tion mode is typically located in mixed fretting regime.
surface damage within the fretting contact interface were pro-
Fig. 2b and c present the evolutions of the hysteresis loops with
duced as introduced in Section 4.4. The durative crack propagation
fatigue cycles in fretting–fatigue at the strain amplitudes of 0.14%
with a linear growth rate almost during the entire life can be ob-
and 0.16%, respectively. The evolution modes are both located in
served as indicated in Section 4.5.
mixed fretting regimes. Fig. 2b demonstrates that the initial perfect
The average values of the normalized tangential force in the sta-
hysteresis loop is changed to a less opened hysteretic loop with a
ble stage or in the stage tending to be stable in fretting–fatigue at
decreased relative slip range. After approximately 2  104 fatigue
the strain amplitudes of 0.12%, 0.14% and 0.16% are 0.45, 0.47 and
cycles, the stick condition occurs with linear hysteresis loops and
0.53, respectively. Thus the average value increases with increasing
lasts for the remainder of the fretting fatigue life. It is shown from
strain amplitude. This is because the partial slip condition results
Fig. 2c that the hysteresis loop is the characteristic of gross slip
in higher normalized tangential force as compared to the stick con-
condition at first and then it goes to the partial slip condition with
dition and the reduction of stick zone manifests the increase of
decreased relative slip. The steady hysteresis loop is located in the
normalized tangential force in the partial slip condition [16]. As
partial slip regime. At 104 fatigue cycles, the tangential forces cor-
illustrated in Section 4.1, at 104 fatigue cycles, the hysteresis loop
responding to the strain amplitudes of 0.12%, 0.14% and 0.16% are
characterizes the stick regime in the case of fretting–fatigue at the
approximately 22.4 N, 23.7 N and 26.5 N, respectively; no relative
strain amplitude of 0.12%, while the partial slip conditions occur
slip occurs for fretting–fatigue at the strain amplitude of 0.12% in
comparison with the relative slip of 10 lm and 13.7 lm for
fretting–fatigue at the strain amplitudes of 0.14% and 0.16%, 4
3.5x10
respectively. Therefore, the tangential force and relative slip in-
crease with increasing stain amplitude in the stable contact
Fretting fatigue life (Cycles)

condition. 2.8x10
4

4.2. Normalized tangential force 4

2.1x10

The evolutions of the normalized tangential force with fatigue

cycles at different strain amplitudes are shown in Fig. 3. During 1.4x10
4

the fretting–fatigue test at the strain amplitude of 0.12%, the nor-

malized tangential force is low initially due to the protective sur-
3
face film of the steel wire. Then it increases rapidly with 7.0x10
increasing fatigue cycles, which is attributed to the damage of sur-
face film and the induced direct contact between metals. Fretting
0.0
action makes the contact interfaces get progressively roughened 0.12% 0.14% 0.16%
attributed to the asperities worn out, which thus increases the nor- Strain amplitude
malized tangential force with increasing fatigue cycles [17,18].
Afterwards, the formation and accommodation of the third body Fig. 4. Fretting fatigue lives at different strain amplitudes.
4990 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993

with the relative slip of approximately 10 lm and 13.7 lm in cases

of fretting–fatigue at the strain amplitudes of 0.14% and 0.16%,
respectively.

4.3. Fretting fatigue life

The effect of strain amplitude on fretting fatigue life is shown in

Fig. 4. In this paper, the fretting fatigue life is defined as the num-
ber of cycles when complete fracture of the tensile steel wire oc-
curs. The fretting fatigue life decreases with increasing strain
amplitude.
The fretting fatigue life is affected by the fretting regime. The
evolution modes of the hysteresis loops with fatigue cycles are
all typically located in mixed fretting regimes as concluded in Sec-
tion 4.1. Mixed fretting regime has been identified as the most dan-
gerous regime in crack nucleation, propagation and service failure
in fretting–fatigue tests [21]. An increase of strain amplitude re-
sults in a reduction of the stick zone and thereby the increase of
fretting damage, which accelerates the fatigue failure of tensile (a) 0.12%
steel wire and decreases its fretting fatigue life [22]. The tangential
force also has an influence on the fretting fatigue life. The tangen-
tial force increases as the strain amplitude increases in mixed fret-
ting regime as described in Section 4.1. Therefore, the tangential
stress between steel wires along the slip direction becomes larger,
which is more easily to induce the micro-crack initiation and prop-
agation parallel to the surface and increases the possibility of crack
formation and propagation [21]. Therefore, the fretting fatigue life
decreases with the increase of tangential force.
The cyclic softening behavior is another important factor affect-
ing the fretting fatigue life. The evolutions of the maximum cyclic
load with fatigue cycles at different strain amplitudes are shown in
Fig. 5. The maximum cyclic load decreases with increasing fatigue
cycles and then remains constant, which indicates the cyclic soft-
ening occurs. The cyclic softening intensifies as the strain ampli-
tude increases, which indicates more easily activated slip
systems inside the steel wire, enhanced material dislocations and
reduced deformation resistance of the internal structures [23–
25]. These behaviors accelerate the fatigue fracture of the tensile
steel wire and decrease its fretting fatigue life. Moreover, The accu- (b) 0.14%
mulation of plastic deformation in each cycle during the cyclic
loading process will result in micro-crack nucleation and propaga-
tion of the tensile steel wire. Thus, the growth rate of fatigue cracks

1500
Maximum cyclic force (N)

0.16 %
1200 0.14 %
0.12 %

900

600 3 4 4 4
0.0 9.0x10 1.8x10 2.7x10 3.6x10
(c) 0.16%
Fatigue cycles
Fig. 6. Fretting contact scars of contact steel wires after fretting–fatigue tests at
Fig. 5. Maximum cyclic load with fatigue cycles at different strain amplitudes. different strain amplitudes.
 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993 4991

Fig. 7. X-ray energy spectrum of the fretting contact scar of the steel wire.

increases with the increase of strain amplitude, which results in

(a) 0.12%
the decrease of fretting fatigue life of the tensile steel wire [25–27].

4.4. Microstructure results

The fretting contact scars of contact steel wires after fretting–

fatigue tests at different strain amplitudes were observed by opti-
cal microscopy as seen in Fig. 6. The fretting contact scars present
brown-red wear debris (third body). In order to ascertain the
brown-red1 products, X-ray energy spectrum analysis was realized
and revealed that the fretting contact scars were oxidized and
brown-red iron oxides were produced in fretting–fatigue from
the oxygen peak as shown in Fig. 7. The brown-red oxidized iron
particles increase with increasing strain amplitude, which indi-
cates that the oxidation intensifies.
Fig. 8 shows scanning electron microscopy photographs of the
fretting contact scars of tensile steel wires after fretting–fatigue
tests at different strain amplitudes. In all cases, the fretting contact (b) 0.14%
scars present the elliptical shape along the sliding direction. The
fretting action roughens the fretting contact scar which presents
many pits induced by the detached particles and ploughing along
the slip direction. The ploughing is attributed to the wear debris
as the third body. These characteristic results indicate the wear
mechanism includes adhesive wear and abrasive wear. A great
amount of wear debris is also produced by the fretting action at
the trailing edge of the fretting contact scar. More wear debris is
produced with the increase of strain amplitude, which accelerates
the crack initiation process [16]. The result is consistent with the
conclusion in Section 4.3 that the fretting fatigue life decreases
with increasing strain amplitude.
The morphologies of fretting contact scars by scanning electron
microscopy at higher magnifications (450 and 500) are shown in
Fig. 9. In the case of fretting–fatigue at the strain amplitude of
0.12%, it is observed that there exists delaminating and micro-
cracks within the fretting contact scar, which are fatigue wear
characteristics. Also slight plastic deformation and material adhe-
sion are seen due to adhesive wear. On the other hand, in the case
(c) 0.16%
of the strain amplitude of 0.14%, the fretting contact scar presents Fig. 8. Scanning electron microscopy photographs of the fretting contact scars of
intensified delaminating and obvious micro-cracks perpendicular tensile steel wires after fretting–fatigue tests at different strain amplitudes.
to the relative slip direction between steel wires. Meanwhile, more
pits and intensified material adhesion can also be observed. As the
strain amplitude increases to 0.16%, the fretting contact scar has fretting–fatigue tests are abrasive wear, adhesive wear and fatigue
more micro-cracks, severe delaminating, strong plastic deforma- wear.
tion and severe material adhesion, which makes the fretting con-
tact scar rougher. Therefore, the wear mechanisms for all 4.5. Acoustic emission analysis

1
For interpretation of color in Fig. 6, the reader is referred to the web version of Using experience gained in the identification of wire breaks, a
this article. filter was applied to the raw data of acoustic emission to remove
4992 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993
(a) 0.12%
(b) 0.14%
(c) 0.16%
Fig. 9. Morphologies of fretting contact scars by scanning electron microscopy at
higher magnifications (450 and 500).
the signal components that could be attributed to other sources,
such as background noise and vibration. The filter only passed hits
fewer than 50 dB counts. The cumulative transducer output events
from tensile steel wires subjected to fretting fatigue until fatigue
fracture are shown in Fig. 10. In the case of the strain amplitude
of 0.12%, it can be clearly observed that the evolution curve of
cumulative events is divided into three stages. Acoustic emission
6
1.2x10 0.12%
0.14%
6 0.16%
1.0x10
Events (Counts)
5
8.0x10
5
6.0x10
5
4.0x10
5
2.0x10
0.0
3 4 4 4 4
0.0 8.0x10 1.6x10 2.4x10 3.2x10 4.0x10
Fatigue cycles
Fig. 10. Cumulative transducer output events from tensile steel wires subjected to
fretting fatigue until failure at different strain amplitudes.
signals between 0 and 9800 cycles exhibit certain activity and
intensity. The rate of change of the cumulative events increases
at first and then decreases. From 9800 cycles to 15,500 cycles,
the cumulative events increase slightly with rather low acoustic
emission activity. After 15,500 cycles the acoustic emission activity
increases very rapidly as the fatigue fracture becomes imminent
and thereby the rate of change of cumulative events increases
significantly.
In the range of 0–9800 cycles, the stress concentration induced
by initial Hertz contact under the normal contact load results in the
high density of dislocations in the local area [28]. As illustrated in
Section 4.3, cyclic softening occurs which is attributed to low cyclic
fatigue. The interaction between the motion of dislocation and cyc-
lic softening results in lots of accumulative events and the initial
high rate of change of accumulative events [29]. However, cyclic
slip and increment of dislocation decreases gradually with the
development of fretting–fatigue damage. In the range of 9800–
15,500 cycles, acoustic emission activity is rather low due to the
dynamic balance between the proliferation and disappearance of
dislocations. The preferred slip system at the maximum shear
stress on the steel wire surface gradually develops into the fatigue
crack nucleation with a low nucleation rate [30]. After 15,500 cy-
cles, the rate of change of cumulative events increases obviously,
as the main crack propagates until fatigue fracture of the tensile
steel wire. The main crack propagation is thought to be induced
by the stress concentration due to the contact stress and shear
stress between steel wires in contact. The high rate of change of
accumulative events is believed to be resulted from the grinding
during the crack closure, debonding of the inclusions and the
cracking of secondary cracks in crack propagation [31]. In sum-
mary, the second and third stages correspond to the crack nucle-
ation and crack propagation, respectively.
The cumulative events increase continuously in fretting–fatigue
at the strain amplitude of 0.14%. As the strain amplitude increases
to 0.16%, the evolution of accumulative events with fatigue cycles
is approximately the straight line, which indicates that the fret-
ting–fatigue crack grows at an constant rate. The cumulative total
events and the fretting fatigue life decrease with increasing strain
amplitude. As demonstrated in Section 4.3, an increase of the strain
amplitude accelerates the crack nucleation and propagation, which
shortens the crack nucleation time and increases the growth rate of
fatigue cracks. The increase of fretting damage accelerates the fati-
gue failure of the tensile steel wire with the increase of the strain
amplitude. The results in Section 4.5 are consistent with those in
Section 4.3.
 D. Wang et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 4986–4993
5. Conclusions
The variation modes of the hysteretic loops of tangential force
versus displacement are all typically located in mixed fretting re-
gimes. The tangential force and relative slip in the stable contact
condition increase with increasing stain amplitude. At 104 fatigue
cycles in fretting–fatigue tests at the strain amplitudes of 0.12%,
0.14% and 0.16%, the tangential forces are approximately 22.4 N,
23.7 N and 26.5 N, respectively; the relative slip corresponds to
nearly no slip, 10 lm and 13.7 lm, respectively. The average val-
ues of the normalized tangential force in the stable stage or in
the stage tending to be stable in fretting–fatigue at the strain
amplitudes of 0.12%, 0.14% and 0.16% are 0.45, 0.47 and 0.53,
respectively. It is observed that the average value increases with
increasing strain amplitude. The fretting regime, tangential force
and cyclic softening behavior are the main factors affecting the
fretting fatigue life. An increase of the strain amplitude results in
a reduction of the stick zone and thereby an increase of fretting
damage in mixed fretting regime. As the strain amplitude in-
creases, the tangential force increases, and the cyclic softening
strengthens as well. Therefore, the increase of the strain amplitude
accelerates the crack nucleation, propagation and final service fail-
ure of tensile steel wires, which decreases their fretting fatigue
lives. The fretting contact scars present brown-red oxidized iron
particles which increase with the increase of strain amplitude indi-
cating the intensification of oxidation. The wear mechanisms for
fretting–fatigue tests at different strain amplitudes are abrasive
wear, adhesive wear and fatigue wear. The damage of fretting con-
tact scars intensifies with increasing strain amplitude. In the case
of 0.12%, the cumulative acoustic emission events between 0 and
9800 cycles gradually increase of which the rate of change in-
creases at first and then decreases. From 9800 cycles to 15,500 cy-
cles, the cumulative events increase slightly with rather low
activity, which corresponds to the crack nucleation. After 15,500
cycles, the rate of change of cumulative events increases signifi-
cantly induced by the increased activity, which corresponds to
the crack propagation. In the case of 0.14%, the cumulative events
increase continuously. As the strain amplitude increases to 0.16%,
the evolution of accumulative events with fatigue cycles is approx-
imately the straight line indicating that the fretting–fatigue crack
grows at an constant rate. The cumulative total events decrease
with increasing strain amplitude.
Acknowledgement
The research reported in this paper was supported by National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50875252).
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