The presence of macroscopic residual stresses in heat treatable aluminum alloys can give rise to machining distortion, dimensional instability, and increased susceptibility to in-service fatigue and stress-corrosion cracking. This article details the residual-stress magnitudes and distributions introduced into aluminum alloys by thermal operations associated with heat treatment. The available technologies by which residual stresses in aluminum alloys can be relieved are also described. The article shows why thermal stress relief is not a feasible stress-reduction technology for precipitation-hardened alloys. It examines the consequences of aging treatments on the residual stress, namely, annealing, precipitation heat treatment, and cryogenic treatment. The article provides information on uphill quenching, which attempts to reverse thermal gradients encountered during quenching. It examines how quench-induced residual stresses in heat treatable aluminum alloys are reduced when sufficient load is applied to cause plastic deformation. The article also shows how plastic deformation reduces residual stress.

In x-ray diffraction residual stress measurement, the strain in the crystal lattice is measured, and the residual stress producing the strain is calculated, assuming a linear elastic distortion of the crystal lattice. This article provides a detailed account of the plane stress elastic model, and describes the most common methods of x-ray diffraction residual stress measurement, namely, single-angle and two angle techniques. It elaborates the major steps involved in x-ray diffraction residual stress measurement, explaining the possible sources of error in stress measurement. The article also outlines the applications of x-ray diffraction residual stress measurement with examples.

This article focuses primarily on what an analyst should know about applying X-ray diffraction (XRD) residual stress measurement techniques to failure analysis. Discussions are extended to the description of ways in which XRD can be applied to the characterization of residual stresses in a component or assembly. The article describes the steps required to calibrate instrumentation and to validate stress measurement results. It presents a practical approach to sample selection and specimen preparation, measurement location selection, and measurement depth selection, as well as an outline on measurement validation. The article also provides information on stress-corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue. The importance of residual stress in fatigue is described with examples. The article explains the effects of heat treatment and manufacturing processes on residual stress. It concludes with a section on the XRD stress measurements in multiphase materials and composites and in locations of stress concentration.

This article discusses the need of and the strain basis for residual stress measurements and describes the nature of residual stress fields. A generic destructive stress relief procedure is described along with the issues generally involved in each procedural step. The article presents the stress reconstruction equations to be used for computational reconstruction of the stress fields from the measured strains for the destructive methods. It provides information on the sectioning, material removal, strain measurement, and chemical methods of residual stress measurement. The article reviews the semidestructive methods of residual stress measurement: blind hole drilling and ring coring, spot annealing, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Nondestructive methods such as neutron diffraction, ultrasonic velocity, and magnetic Barkhausen noise techniques, are also discussed.

This article provides a detailed account of x-ray diffraction (XRD) residual-stress techniques. It begins by describing the principles of XRD stress measurement, followed by a discussion on the most common methods of XRD residual-stress measurement. Some of the procedures required for XRD residual-stress measurement are then presented. The article provides information on measurement of subsurface stress gradients and stress relaxation caused by layer removal. The article concludes with a section on examples of applications of XRD residual-stress measurement that are typical of industrial metallurgical, process development, and failure analysis investigations undertaken at Lambda Research.

Modeling will help reduce machining problems and thereby enable more rapid introduction of high-performance materials and components. This article discusses the technical needs of aircraft engine and airframe structural components and modeling of heat-treat-induced residual stress by finite-element residual-stress analysis. It describes the two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) procedures involved in finite-element residual-stress analysis. The article deals with the 2-D and 3-D machining distortion validation on engine-disk-type components. It describes methods for obtaining machining-induced residual stresses, including detailed finite-element analysis of the cutting process, the simple fast-acting mechanistic model, and the semi-empirical linear stress model. The article concludes with information on the modeling benefits and implementation of modeling in a production environment.

This article provides information on the boundary conditions that must be applied to model the heat-transfer coefficient (HTC) in a component being cooled. It describes the historical perspective of various experiments to determine the HTCs. Computational fluid dynamics codes have also been used to predict the HTCs around a part. The article provides information on the various modeling studies used to predict cooling rates in a component. The prediction of residual stresses by validation and optimization of residual stress models is also discussed. Several techniques, such as models neglecting and incorporating material transformation effects, used to predict residual stresses are reviewed. The article also explains the various aspects of models used to prevent cracking during heating and quenching.

This article examines residual stresses in quenched and surface-hardened steels by focusing on its theoretical background, formation mechanisms of residual stress, effects of tempering and cryogenic cooling on residual stress, effects of residual stress on the service performance of components, and measurement, computation, and relaxation of residual stress.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) residual-stress analysis is an essential tool for failure analysis. This article focuses primarily on what the analyst should know about applying XRD residual-stress measurement techniques to failure analysis. Discussions are extended to the description of ways in which XRD can be applied to the characterization of residual stresses in a component or assembly and to the subsequent evaluation of corrective actions that alter the residual-stress state of a component for the purposes of preventing, minimizing, or eradicating the contribution of residual stress to premature failures. The article presents a practical approach to sample selection and specimen preparation, measurement location selection, and measurement depth selection; measurement validation is outlined as well. A number of case studies and examples are cited. The article also briefly summarizes the theory of XRD analysis and describes advances in equipment capability.

This article describes the formation of residual stresses and distortion and the techniques for measuring residual stresses. It provides a discussion on the magnitude and distribution analysis of residual stresses and distortion in weldments. The article considers the effects of residual stresses and distortion on the brittle fracture and fatigue fracture of welded structures. The thermal treatments of weldments are also discussed.

This article describes the formation of residual stresses and distortion, providing information on the techniques for measuring residual stresses. It presents a detailed discussion on the magnitude and distribution analysis of the residual stresses and distortion in weldments. The article briefly explains the effects of residual stresses and distortion on the brittle fracture and fatigue fracture of welded structures. It also provides information on the thermal treatments of weldments.

This article introduces the fundamental sources of residual stresses common to most manufacturing processes. It explains the effect of material removal on residual stresses and distortions in a part. The article assists the reader in making a choice between trial-and-error and computer-simulation approaches for the control of residual stresses. It provides a summary of the commonly used techniques of measuring residual stresses. The article also describes the finite element method for predicting residual stresses caused by various manufacturing processes. It concludes with a discussion on the operations involved in thermal and mechanical stress-relief methods.

Residual stresses are stresses within a part that result from non-uniform plastic deformation or heating and cooling and play a vital role in ensuring long life of the induction-hardened steel parts. This article provides a description of the formation of residual stresses, and factors affecting their magnitude and distribution as well as their effects on longevity of heat-treated components. The residual stresses of the induction-hardened part are often produced by microstructural transformation, thermal shrinking, distortion, and quenching. Fatigue strength is the main property that gets affected not only by induction hardening but also by residual stresses, quenching conditions, and grain size in the hardened condition. The article concludes with a review of induction heating or hardening in conjunction with other processing methods with examples in terms of properties and, in some cases, effects on residual stress.

Quenching is a widely used technique to strengthen titanium alloys. This article presents the metallurgical and structural background underlying the specific techniques applied in the quenching of various titanium alloys, and the ways to control and reduce residual stresses induced from quenching or other thermal or mechanical processes. It discusses the types and microstructures of titanium alloys, namely, alpha, alpha-beta, and beta alloys, and describes the general effects of the various heat treatments. The article provides information on quenching media, quenching rate, section size, and martensitic transformation in quenched titanium alloys. It shows how residual stresses in titanium alloys are evaluated and controlled. Finally, the article describes the stress-relief treatments used to reduce residual stresses.