Effect of chrome plating and varying hardness on the fretting fatigue life of AISI D2 components
Résumé
Effect of commercial grade chrome plating on the fretting fatigue life of AISI D2 is investigated using recently developed inverted pin-in-dovetail configuration fixture. Chrome plated and non-plated specimens having hardness of 40, 43, 52, 57 and 62 HRC were tested. All samples were tested at 7.5kN tension-tension axial load (R = 0.1) at a constant frequency of 20 Hz and were observed under optical microscope after specific number of cycles to record crack initiation and crack propagation. It was observed that chrome plating is ineffective when component hardness is low but improves the fretting fatigue life by 60% when component hardness is 62 HRC. SEM images give an insight of how chrome plating plays an effective role in improving fretting fatigue life.