Residual stress determination by the layer removal and X-ray diffraction measurement - correction method

Very often a manufacturing process is followed by some surface treatment. Such a process induces residual stress into the manufactured component. Compressive residual stress is desirable for enhancing the fatigue properties of the component. The residual stress is often measured only at the surface, if at all. However, residual stress is equilibrating in the whole component. Therefore, compressive residual stress at the surface induces undesirable tensile stress inside in the component. Knowledge of the residual stress distribution in a body can be very useful in engineering applications. The authors found this knowledge necessary for a proper description of fatigue crack propagation in railway axles described in the original paper [1]. With the onset of modern surface treating technologies, e.g. induction hardening, which can affect the entire cross-section of the component, the residual stress determination is even more critical. The presented paper aims to describe a procedure developed for proper residual stress determination. The procedure can be easily used e.g. in R&D centers, where X-ray diffraction residual stress measurement is already in use. The procedure is suitable for the residual stress determination in sizable cylindrical bodies or components, e.g. railway axles. It uses X-ray diffraction residual stress surface measurement and layer removal by machining. Results experimentally obtained are corrected by a general procedure developed in MATLAB software in order to obtain the original residual stress state in the cylindrical body.•More accurate procedure for a residual stress determination in cylindrical bodies.