Evolutionary characteristics of fretting wear behaviour in stainless-steel materials for vehicle drivetrain systems

Purpose This study aims to clarify the coupled evolution of frictional hysteresis, energy dissipation, contact stiffness and surface damage in self-mated SS304 rough flat-on-flat fretting contacts. Design/methodology/approach Self-mated SS304 specimens are tested at five durations. Hysteresis loops, dissipated energy, coefficient of friction (µ), tangential contact stiffness (Kt), gross-slip stiffness (Kp), surface topography and wear morphology are analysed. An energy-dependent Bouc–Wen model is developed to describe the evolution of the hysteretic response. Findings Kp, Kt and µ generally increase with cumulative dissipated energy. Surface roughness and height distribution evolve progressively, while wear morphology develops from regular grooves to ploughing, plastic smearing, local detachment and debris redistribution. The proposed model reproduces the hysteresis response with an root mean square error of 1.2 N, Normalized root mean square error of 1.0%, R2 of 0.98 and loop-area error of 2.5%. Originality/value The study establishes cumulative dissipated energy as an effective parameter for linking frictional response, contact stiffness and surface damage and provides an energy-dependent framework for modelling the wear-induced evolution of fretting hysteresis in self-mated SS304 contacts.