Controlling plasticity in the contour method of residual stress measurement

The contour method has emerged as a promising technique for residual stress measurement in relatively large, thick and complex engineering components. The method involves making a cut in the sample of interest, measuring the subsequent relaxed deformation profile of the cut surface and using this profile to back-calculate the original out-of-plane residual stress field by finite element modelling. The method is based on the theory of elasticity in that the stress relaxation during test specimen cutting is assumed to be entirely elastic. However, when measuring residual stresses of magnitude approaching the material yield strength, plasticity can occur which introduces errors in the measured stress profile. The main aim of this thesis was to develop methods of mitigating and estimating plasticity induced errors in contour method residual stress measurements. Based on the principles of fracture mechanics, an analogy was made between the stress relaxation process and a cracked plate to investigate the origin of plasticity in the contour method. It was demonstrated that that the cut tip stress intensity factor (KT) and the corresponding plastic zone parameters are the most important parameters for characterising plasticity-induced errors in the contour method. Extensive finite element analyses were carried out to understand and control the errors associated with plasticity with a view of improving the accuracy and reliability of the method. The outcomes of this research provide a valuable insight into how accumulation of plasticity for different restraining conditions affects the performance of the contour method. A novel cutting strategy that aims at mitigating plasticity-induced error by controlling the severity of the cut tip stress concentration (i.e. stress intensity factor) during the cutting process has been developed. Furthermore, procedures (correlations) are developed to estimate the plasticity-induced errors in the results of the contour method. Finally guidelines are proposed and applied to a case study for mitigating the errors associated with plasticity in a contour method residual stress measurement.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

The Open University

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Traoré, Yéli

Language dc:language

en