Critical analysis of the suitability of crack propagation direction criteria for 2D cylindrical plain fretting contact.

In this work the suitability of the criterion of maximum effective amplitude of the normal stress (Delta sigma(n,eff))(max) and the criterion of minimum shear stress range (Delta tau)(min) for 2D cylindrical plain fretting contact condition has been analysed. The numerical analysis has been performed by means of the extended finite element method, which takes into account the contact between crack faces during the closing part, and the results have been compared with experiments reported in the literature. Results show that overall the (Delta tau)(min) criterion predominates in intermediate stage, while the (Delta sigma(n,eff))(max) shows less deviation in the final stage. However, the predicted crack path by the latter criterion shifts toward the outer side, which do not correlate with the experimental results reported in the literature. Additional studies should investigate the variables that are affecting this change in the behaviour along the crack in order to set a criteria that is able to predict the plain fretting condition crack paths accurately