Principal component analysis for characterization of fretting wear experiments on spline couplings

Spline couplings are often used in aerospace industry for the purpose of power and torque transfer. A spline coupling typically consists of a hub and shaft with internal and external teeth respectively. As the teeth are engaged and the spline coupling is put into operation, repeated relative surface movement of teeth begins and results in fretting wear. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a statistical technique to identify the important parameters and their relationships with each other. This work deals with the characterization of fretting wear by the help of principal component analysis. PCA has been applied to the experimental data obtained from fretting wear tests in the lab and important variables with respect to fretting wear identified. This serves as a new tool to interpret the experimental results and hypothesis generation in the field of fretting wear. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.