Abstract
Boundary element analysis of K-values at the inclined surface crack tip under rolling contact fatigue (RCF) conditions have been performed. The RCF conditions include an accurate model of friction between the faces of cracks and the three possible effects of fluid trapped inside the crack. Comparisons were made on calculated K-values by present analyses and that by the other numerical procedures when different mechanisms are applied to the same conditions. Significant differences were shown between the results about the amplitude of the variations of both KI- and KII-values and their degree of overlap that were considered to be originated from the other procedures, which could not detect the contact of crack face. Since those are key factors for the crack to be propagated co-planar or arrested and branched under RCF conditions, the iteration procedure that specified the extent and location of locked, slipped and separated regions on the crack faces must be used for the calculations.
