Fretting fatigue of zinc coated low carbon steel EN H320 M

The object of the present study was to investigate the influence of zinc co atings on steel sheets during fretting fatigue and fatigue tests. The influ ence of the fatigue stress range, normal pressure and amplitude of slip, on the fracture life was studied for both coated and uncoated EN H320 M steel . The wear produced by fretting was measured and compared with the fracture life evolution for different values of slip amplitude. The wear scars and the fracture surfacer were examined by scanning electron microscopy to iden tify the degradation mechanism. Although zinc films do not influence the fa tigue life of the tested steel, when fretting is superposed on to a fatigue stress the coating markedly improves the fracture life. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.