Fretting fatigue of 7050-T7451 Al alloy: the influence of bulk mean stress

Fretting fatigue is a combination of fatigue and micro-sliding due to fretting. The aim of the present work is to estimate crack initiation direction, endurance strength and lifetime of aluminium 7050-T7451 alloy specimens. The experimental campaign examined is devoted to investigate the role of the mean bulk stress on fretting fatigue behaviour. The above estimations are performed by using the Carpinteri et al. criterion for fretting fatigue. In such a context, the accuracy of the criterion is verified.