Abstract: The application and progress of numerical methods in the analysis of fretting fatigue mechanism in recent years are reviewed. The initiation and propagation features of cracks in fretting fatigue, in which the stress distribution on the contact regions plays a decisive part, are summarized briefly and the various numerical methods for analysis of contact problems are introduced in detail. The present problems and difficulties in the stress analysis of fretting fatigue region are discussed. The numerical method needs to be further developed to promote the research of fretting fatigue mechanism in theory and application.