The Numerical Damage Modeling of the Mechanical Bolted Assemblies under Fretting Solicitation

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to shed light on the problem of the fretting damage of a mechanical assembly bolted in three dimensions. This study requires the analysis of the stress fields in the Cartesian coordinates in terms of the angle and the radius of the contact areas. It also requires the determination of the initiation’s position and the crack’s propagation. In this study, we focus on numerical modeling using the ANSYS computer. The results obtained in the form of nodal solutions show in details the positions of the stress concentrations and the formation of the bolted assembly. The contact surface between the plates (or contact elements) is characterizing by a contact pressure, Adhesion and gap. The results obtained have allowed us to determine the stress that triggered the initiation and crack propagation as well as the position of the damaged area by the fretting.