CONTACT STRESSES IN A MODERATELY THIN STRIP (WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO FRETTING EXPERIMENTS)

This paper uses Fourier transform methods to calculate the stress field in a strip of finite thickness under normal contact loading. The geometry is relevant to a number of common fretting fatigue experiments. It is demonstrated that the stress component induced parallel to the free surface differs significantly from that predicted for a half plane. Further, it is shown that the use of half-plane expressions will significantly underestimate the severity of the stress state induced in fretting experiments. This has important implications for the development of initiation and propagation models in fretting fatigue.