Contact stress prediction and fretting wear measurement of aeronautic crowned involute splines.

Splines are widely used in aeronautic applications; however, misaligned splines often suffer contact stress concentration and fretting wear fatigue failure. Crowned modification is a useful way to relieve contact stress concentration and mitigate fretting wear for misaligned splines, but it is unclear how this method works. In this study, contact stresses for involute splines are calculated using finite elements and correlated to first-hand experimental results on fretting wear obtained using a dedicated test rig. Both contact stress distribution prediction and fretting wear measurement indicate that the crowned magnitude of splines should be selected according to the operating angular misalignment. ● A dedicated test rig for spline fretting wear is constructed. ● First-hand experimental results on spline fretting wear are presented. ● Spline contact stress predictions are implemented using finite elements. ● Optimum crowned magnitude depends on operating angular misalignment.A positive correlation exists between spline fretting wear and contact stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]