Experimental and Finite Element Analysis for Evaluating the Fretting Effect on Fatigue Behavior of IMI 834 Titanium Alloy

Abstract

This research article deals with the fatigue behavior of titanium alloy (IMI 834) due to fretting by presenting experimental and finite element analysis (FEA) for the solid bridge-type pad at room temperature. Various stress amplitudes (120–270 MPa) are considered for experimental investigations and the FEA model. Three-dimensional FEA was presented to predict the mechanisms which cause damage, by estimating the performance of stress allocation at various locations like the contact boundaries, crack initiation site, and crack angle. Also, the crack initiation site and crack angle have been calculated by utilizing the results of the proposed model. Using the scanning electron microscope and electron microscopy, the fracture surface and the fretted area are estimated from the tested specimen. From the obtained results, the fatigue life of titanium alloy (IMI 834) due to fretting is gradually decreased for solid bridge-type pad. It may occur because of the elevated stress concentration at the contact boundaries and the higher damage on the surface of the pad. The number of cycles increased with decreasing stress amplitude values for the case of both experimental and FEA model results. The proposed FEA model results are in fine arrangement with experimental end results. © 2022, ASM International.