The small artificial surface defects in the coarse-grain steel are studied. The size of the used defects is smaller than the most relevant microstructural unit of steel, i.e. the average grain size. The samples of coarse-grain steel are prepared using a welding thermal-cycle simulator and a laboratory furnace. The defects are made by indenting with a Vickers pyramid. One of the final results of the defect making is the existence of local residual stresses. The influence of residual stresses on the crack initiation from those artificial defects is discussed in the article.

The numerical solutions of stress and strain components on the critical plane of tungsten carbide coating were solved based on the critical plane method in three-dimensional coordinate system, and accordingly three strain energy density parameters (Smith-Watson-Topper, Nita-Ogatta-Kuwabara and Chen parameters) were determined to reveal the fretting fatigue characteristics of tungsten carbide coating. In order to predict the fretting fatigue life based on the strain energy density criterion, the expressions between the strain energy density parameter and the fretting fatigue life was obtained experimentally. After the comparison of the three strain energy parameters, it was found that all three parameters could accurately predict the crack initiation position, but only the Smith-Watson-Topper parameters could accurately predict the crack initiation angle. The effects of cyclic load, normal load and friction coefficient on fretting fatigue damage behaviors were discussed by using the Smith-Watson-Topper criterion. The results show that the fretting fatigue life decreases with the increase of cyclic load; an increase in the normal contact load will cause the Smith-Watson-Topper damage parameters more concentrated at the outer edge of the bridge foot; a decrease in the friction coefficient will increase the Smith-Watson-Topper damage parameters in the middle of the contact surface.

In the present paper, the excavation of the energetic approach that estimates the fatigue crack initiation life of metal is conducted for H62 brass. The benefit of the energetic approach is the division of the actual applied strain range Δε into two parts, that is, a damage strain range Δεd that induces fatigue damage within the metal, and an undamaged strain range Δεc, which does not produce fatigue damage of the metal and corresponds to theoretical strain fatigue limit. The brightness of this approach is that the undamaged strain range Δεc can be estimated by the fundamental conventional parameters of metal in tensile test. The result indicated that the fatigue crack initiation life of H62 brass can be estimated by this approach successfully.