LAUSR

Abstract Fretting wear is a unique form of material degradation caused by small amplitude oscillatory relative motion of two surfaces in contact. Fretting wear is typically encountered at relative displacements of less than 300 μm and occurs in either a gross slip regime [1] (where there is slip displacement across the whole contact), or a partial slip regime (where there are parts of the contact where no slip displacement occurs). Fretting wear is experienced within a wide range of industrial sectors, [2] including aero engine couplings, locomotive axles and nuclear fuel casings [3]. Under higher loads and smaller displacement amplitudes, the contact will be within the partial slip regime, often resulting in fretting fatigue where the dominant damage mode is a reduction in fatigue life [4]. Friction is a very common phenomenon in daily life and industry, which is governed by the processes occurring in the thin surfaces layers of bodies in moving contact. The simple and fruitful idea used in studies of friction is that there are two main non-interacting components of friction, namely, adhesion and deformation [5, 6].