Accurate evaluation of residual stress is essential if is to be taken into account in structural integrity assessments. For thick components, many non-destructive residual stress measurement techniques cannot be used since they are unable to measure the stresses deep within the component. Measurement techniques which involve mechanical strain relief through material removal are the only alternative. Recently, it has been found that these techniques may fail to measure the stresses correctly when highly triaxial stresses are present because plastic redistribution can occur when the material removal is carried out. The Deep Hole Drilling technique is a very powerful method to measure the stresses within very thick engineering components. However, it can suffer from high levels of plasticity and lead to inaccurate results. It is shown in the present research that the effect of plasticity on the measured stresses can be eliminated. In the present work, the effect of gauge volume on the plasticity effect is investigated.
Residual stress measurement on 3-D printed blocks of Ti-6Al-4V using incremental hole drilling technique
