An edge crack is analyzed to study fretting failure. A flat punch with rounded corners and a half-plane are regarded as an indenter and a substrate, respectively. Plane strain condition is considered. Contact shear traction in the case of partial slip is evaluated numerically. It is assumed that an initial crack is extended to the point of minimum strain energy density in the half-plane from the trailing edge of contact. Dislocation density function method is used to evaluate K-I and K-II. The variations of K-I and K-II during crack growth are examined in the case of indentation by a punch with different ratio of the flat region (l) to the punch width (L). Sih's minimum strain energy density theory [1] is also applied to predict the propagation direction of the initial crack. The direction evaluated is similar to that found in the experiment. Stress intensity factor ranges (DeltaK(I) and DeltaK(II)) are examined during cyclic shear on the contact. For the design of contacting bodies, a suggestible geometry of punch for alleviating cracking failure is studied. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.