Abstract
It is reported that fretting fatigue strength in hydrogen gas environment is lower than that in air. To clarify the mechanism of environtmental effect of hydrogen gas on fretting fatigue strength, fretting wear test machine was newly designed and fretting wear tests were conducted. The test machine is suitable for the precise measurement of relative slip amount and frictional force precisely. The materials were austenitic stainless steels SUS 304 and SUS 316L. The materials were solution heat treated. Tangential force coefficient in hydrogen environment increased compared with that in air. The high tangential force was considered to be a cause of low fretting fatigue strength in hydrogen gas environment. The absorption of hydrogen occurred during fretting wear test in hydrogen gas environment was detected by TDS. Absorption of hydrogen is also considered to be another cause of low fretting fatigue strength in hydrogen gas environment.
