The fretting fatigue limit based on local stress at the contact edge

It is well known that fretting fatigue is affected by various factors such as contact pressure, relative slip, contact length, specimen size, loading type and so on. In this study, the reason why these factors affect fretting fatigue was investigated on the basis of the stress distribution near the contact edge. The local stress distribution near the contact edge was experimentally measured using a small multi‐element stress concentration gauge. It was shown that the magnitude of the stress concentration at the contact edge varied significantly depending on these factors. It was found that the S–N curve was expressed uniquely on the basis of the local stress amplitude at the contact edge