Probing fretting fatigue crack initiation in dovetail joints through crystal plasticity modeling and experimental validation

This study investigates the fretting fatigue crack initiation in dovetail joints using crystal plasticity modeling and experimental validation. The experimental data indicate that crack initiation occurs near the center of the contact surface. Crystal plasticity finite element simulations reveal that regions with elevated cumulative crystal slip parameter and Fatemi-Socie parameter are concentrated in the central area of the contact surface, displaying a non-uniform distribution. Both the cumulative crystal slip parameter and Fatemi-Socie parameter demonstrate relatively high accuracy in predicting crack initiation locations. This is because the cumulative crystal slip parameter represents accumulated plastic damage at the microscopic scale, while the Fatemi-Socie parameter incorporates the effects of normal stress and shear strain on the slip plane. This study introduces a method for predicting crack initiation positions in dovetail joints subjected to fretting fatigue using the crystal plasticity finite element approach, providing valuable insights for the structural design and strength assessment of dovetail-shaped components.