Damage analysis for an elastic-plastic body in cylindrical contact with a rigid plane

The fatigue failure can be explained by the accumulation of damage. By coupling the fatigue damage evolution with the elastic-plastic constitutive model, a numerical approach based on the continuum damage mechanics is proposed to conduct the fatigue damage analysis of the material under cyclic loadings. The elastic-plastic behavior of the material with nonlinear kinematic hardening effects and the damage induced by both cyclic stress and accumulated plastic strain are taken into account. The proposed approach is adopted to an asperity in cylindrical contact with a rigid flat under normal cyclic loading, which can be considered as a fundamental simplification of the contact between two rough surfaces. Finally, the fatigue macro-crack initiation and the evolution of load-carrying capacity of the asperity are predicted.