5.1 Fretting wear and corrosion are potential serviceability factors in many machines. They have always been factors in shipping finished goods by truck or rail. Packing materials rubbing on a product in transit can make the product unsalable. Beverage cans and food cans can lose their trade dress and consumers often equate container damage to content damage.

5.2 Clamping surfaces on injection molds are damaged by fretting motions on clamping. This damage is a significant cause for mold replacement.

5.3 Machines in shipment are subject to fretting damage in the real area of contact of the bearings on the machines.

5.4 Operating vibration and movement of mechanically clamped components, like screwed assemblies, can produce damage on the clamped faces and other faces that affects machine function or use. Many times fretting damage appears in the form of pits, which are stress concentrators that can lead to mechanical fractures.

5.5 Electrical contacts in any device that is subject to vibration are susceptible to failure (open circuit) due to fretting damage at real areas of contact.

5.6 This test method is intended to be used to identify mating couples that may be less prone to fretting damage than others. This information in turn is used to select materials of construction or surface treatments that are less prone to fretting damage for applications where fretting conditions are known or perceived to exist.

5.7 When using this test method to screen candidate material pairs for a specific application, the user should ensure that the prescribed geometry and test conditions described in Sections 6 - 8 adequately simulate the intended end use. The rationale for any deviations from the prescribed test conditions, if any, shall be explained in the test report and, accordingly, the user shall report that they used a modified version of the standard.