Analysis of fretting wear with misalignment errors in splines based on experimental wear coefficient and dynamic torque characteristics

Purpose During clutch engagement, misalignment errors (parallel and angular) significantly affect the fretting wear characteristics of the engaging spline. Under the premise of obtaining accurate wear coefficients through experiments, this paper aims to investigate the fretting wear behavior of clutch engaging splines based on dynamic torque characteristics and to propose a method for wear prediction considering misalignment errors. Design/methodology/approach Disc-on-disc wear tests on the spline material were conducted to determine the wear mechanism and wear coefficient. Wear progression was implemented in Abaqus using the UMESHMOTION subroutine and the ALE adaptive mesh technique via node displacement control. Comparison between the simulated and experimental wear depths validated the tests. Subsequently, using this wear coefficient and accounting for parallel and angular misalignments, fretting wear models based on dynamic torque characteristics were established to predict the wear behavior of the engaging spline. Findings Based on the wear coefficient K verified by experiment and simulation, fretting wear calculations incorporating dynamic torque characteristics were conducted for splines with two types of misalignment. A parallel misalignment of 0.01 mm produces a uniformly distributed wear depth along the axial direction, peaking at 6.2 × 10–4 µm. An angular misalignment of 0.2° produces a wear depth that decays significantly along the tooth width direction, peaking at 8.5 × 10–4 µm. These results offer quantitative guidance for inferring actual assembly misalignment and controlling wear depth limits. Practical implications These results offer quantitative guidance for inferring actual assembly misalignment and controlling wear depth limits. Originality/value This study provides an effective method for predicting fretting wear of clutch engaging splines considering multiple misalignment errors, offering practical guidance for assembly tolerance control and wear failure assessment.