Fretting problems and some solutions in power plant machinery

Abstract Fretting wear is a common problem on a wide range of power plant machinery with the potential for incurring costly component replacement and even more expensive machine downtime. The operating conditions in power generation can be extreme, not the least being a 30 year life without maintenance in some cases. However, the approach to living with these problems is common with many other engineering applications. Generation plant is divided into four categories in this paper: rotating machinery; heat exchangers, conventional and nuclear; control equipment, conventional and nuclear; electrical and transmission. Case studies are discussed for each category looking at the mechanisms, the data available and the assessment route. In conclusion, deficiencies in fretting wear data are discussed with a plea for more work under more realistic contact conditions.