Effect of contact pressure on fretting fatigue behaviour of Al–Mg–Si alloy AA6061

This paper describes the effect of contact pressure on uniaxial fretting fatigue behaviour of Al–Mg–Si alloy AA6061. The variation of frictional force and coefficient of friction with contact pressure was studied. The fretting fatigue life exhibited a variable behaviour with an increase in the contact pressure. This behaviour has been described on the basis of change in frictional stress, critical relative slip, crack growth retardation effect due to crack closure at high contact pressures and stress concentration effect.