A correlation of the process zone properties in complete, incomplete and almost complete fretting contacts

A careful analytical comparison is made of the size and shape of the process zones present in a range of fretting fatigue experiments. These include the conventional Hertzian contact, the ‘flat and rounded’ pad problem and the classical square-ended pad geometries. The results clearly display the load and geometry regimes where the ‘flat and rounded’ pad performance may be matched with either of the limiting forms. This should permit a unifying re-interpretation of fatigue data already obtained from each of the three sources.