Fretting behavior of shot peened Ti–6Al–4V under slip controlled mode

Fretting tests of shot peened Ti–6Al–4V were conducted under slip controlled mode using a dual actuator test setup which could apply an independent pad displacement at a given applied bulk stress. Fretting regime was identified based on the hysteresis loop of tangential force versus relative slip range and the evolution of tangential force. Fretting regime changed from partial slip to mixed slip and then to gross slip with increasing relative slip range, and the transition from mixed to gross slip occurred at a relative slip range of ∼50 μm regardless of the applied bulk stress magnitude for both shot peened and unpeened specimens. Fretting fatigue life initially decreased as the relative slip range increased and reached to a minimum value, and then increased with an increase of the relative slip range due to the transition in fretting regime from mixed slip to gross slip. Shot peened specimens had longer fatigue life than unpeened specimens at a given relative slip range, but the minimum fatigue life was at the same value of the relative slip range for both shot peened and unpeened specimens. The relationship between relative slip and fatigue life was also found to be independent of the applied bulk stress level. Further, tangential force was directly related to relative slip and this relationship was independent of other fretting variables.