Nondestructive measurement of residual stresses in metals and metal structures
Nondestructive measurement of residual stress production during high strength aluminum alloy structure fabrication
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Nondestructive measurement of residual stress production during high strength aluminum alloy structure fabrication
Constituent properties, along with volume fraction, have a first order effect on the microscale fields within a composite material and influence the macroscopic response. Therefore, there is a need to assess the significance of stochastic variation in the constituent properties of composites at the higher scales. The effect of variability in the parameters controlling the time-dependent behavior, in a unidirectional SCS-6 SiC fiber-reinforced RBSN matrix composite lamina, on the residual stresses induced during processing is investigated numerically. The generalized method of cells micromechanics theory is utilized to model the ceramic matrix composite lamina using a repeating unit cell. The primary creep phases of the constituents are approximated using a Norton-Bailey, steady state, power law creep model. The effect of residual stresses on the proportional limit stress and strain to failure of the composite is demonstrated. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted using a normal distribution for the power law parameters and the resulting residual stress distributions were predicted.
Project Summary: Company: Adelphi Technology, Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063-4121 DOE Phase 1 STTR PI: Dr. Jay Theodore Cremer, Jr. Chief Scientist at Adelphi Technology, Inc. DOE Phase 1 STTR with: Dr. Boris Khaykovich of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory DOE Phase 1 STTR Title: Axisymmetric and Focusing Analyzers to Enable Efficient Powder and Residual Stress Neutron Diffractometers Statement of the problem or situation that is being addressed: Although thermal and cold neutron scattering is widely used, and is critical for success in many areas of materials science and engineering, relatively low neutron fluxes severely limit applications of not only laboratory neutrons generators, but also large national neutron facilities. State-of-the-art thermal and cold neutron sources are large expensive national facilities, which serve diverse community of scientific and industrial users. The constant need to improve the instruments performance, stems from the fact that neutron methods are gaining in popularity, and becoming more and more powerful, while new neutron sources are not being constructed, so as to keep pace with the developments and needs of the scientific community. Small research reactors at universities and National Labs, and laboratory-based neutron generators, are necessary not only for education and training, but also when samples cannot be transported to other facilities. However, the standard neutron techniques, which were developed for high-flux facilities, require much higher efficiencies to be used effectively with the low fluxes of small sources. Thus, the efficient use of neutron sources, such as with our proposed analyzer, is important for the progress and broader use of these neutron techniques. General statement of how this problem is being addressed: We strive to achieve the goal of efficient use of available thermal and cold neutrons, by introducing here, novel analyzers for powder diffraction and stress-strain measurements. These analyzers will enable polychromatic cold and thermal neutron diffractometers, which will have much higher throughput than existing instruments. At large national facilities, such as at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, these analyzers would enable very fast instruments for screening of multiple samples, for measuring kinetic processes, or for measuring residual stress tensors. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: By combining the novel analyzers with the Adelphi thermal neutron generator, we will open a new market, which includes the testing of samples that cannot be transported, such as nuclear fuels, or the testing of parts during production. Given the reasonable cost and size of our proposed analyzer systems, along with the continuing development of more powerful thermal neutron generators, the proposed analyzers will be suitable for weak neutrons sources, which are installed at small to large university, industrial, and government laboratories. Key Words: Neutron powder diffraction, residual stress measurements, thermal neutron generators, TRIGA reactors, low flux thermal and cold neutron sources, neutron diffraction. Summary for Members of Congress: Thermal and cold neutron beams are a powerful materials science probe, which provide unique information about the structure of matter. The proposed innovations expand the reach of neutron-based investigations to new materials and industries by enabling new instrumentation capabilities, thereby greatly enhancing and expanding the role of small, laboratory-based neutron instrumentation, and improving education and training of neutron users.
Residual stress profiles were mapped using neutron diffraction in two simple prism builds of Inconel 718: one fabricated with electron beam melting and the other with direct laser sintering. Spatially indexed stress-free cubes were obtained by EDM sectioning equivalent prisms of similar shape. The (311) interplanar spacing examined for the EDM sectioned sample was compared to the interplanar spacings calculated to fulfill force and moment balance. We have shown that Applying force and moment balance is a necessary supplement to the measurements for the stress-free cubes with respect to accurate stress calculations in additively manufactured components. Furthermore, our work has shown that residual stresses in electron beam melting parts are much smaller than that of direct laser metal sintering parts.
Constituent properties, along with volume fraction, have a first order effect on the microscale fields within a composite material and influence the macroscopic response. Therefore, there is a need to assess the significance of stochastic variation in the constituent properties of composites at the higher scales. The effect of variability in the parameters controlling the time-dependent behavior, in a unidirectional SCS-6 SiC fiber-reinforced RBSN matrix composite lamina, on the residual stresses induced during processing is investigated numerically. The generalized method of cells micromechanics theory is utilized to model the ceramic matrix composite lamina using a repeating unit cell. The primary creep phases of the constituents are approximated using a Norton-Bailey, steady state, power law creep model. The effect of residual stresses on the proportional limit stress and strain to failure of the composite is demonstrated. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted using a normal distribution for the power law parameters and the resulting residual stress distributions were predicted.
This study focused on the application of the Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) technique as a tool for assessing the residual stress state of structures. TSA is based on the fact that materials experience small temperature changes when compressed or expanded. When a structure is cyclically loaded, a surface temperature profile results which correlates to the surface stresses. The cyclic surface temperature is measured with an infrared camera. Traditionally, the amplitude of a TSA signal was theoretically defined to be linearly dependent on the cyclic stress amplitude. Recent studies have established that the temperature response is also dependent on the cyclic mean stress (i.e., the static stress state of the structure). In a previous study by the authors, it was shown that mean stresses significantly influenced the TSA results for titanium- and nickel-based alloys. This study continued the effort of accurate direct measurements of the mean stress effect by implementing various experimental modifications. In addition, a more in-depth analysis was conducted which involved analyzing the second harmonic of the temperature response. By obtaining the amplitudes of the first and second harmonics, the stress amplitude and the mean stress at a given point on a structure subjected to a cyclic load can be simultaneously obtained. The experimental results showed good agreement with the theoretical predictions for both the first and second harmonics of the temperature response. As a result, confidence was achieved concerning the ability to simultaneously obtain values for the static stress state as well as the cyclic stress amplitude of structures subjected to cyclic loads using the TSA technique. With continued research, it is now feasible to establish a protocol that would enable the monitoring of residual stresses in structures utilizing TSA.
Heavy steel plates are used in demanding applications that require both high strength and hardness. An important step in the production of such components is cutting the plates with a cost-effective thermal cutting method such as flame cutting. Flame cutting is performed with a controlled flame and oxygen jet, which burns the steel and forms a cutting edge. However, the thermal cutting of heavy steel plates causes several problems. A heat-affected zone (HAZ) is generated at the cut edge due to the steep temperature gradient. Consequently, volume changes, hardness variations, and microstructural changes occur in the HAZ. In addition, residual stresses are formed at the cut edge during the process. In the worst case, unsuitable flame cutting practices generate cracks at the cut edge. The flame cutting of thick steel plate was modeled using the commercial finite element software ABAQUS. The results of modeling were verified by X-ray diffraction-based residual stress measurements and microstructural analysis. The model provides several outcomes, such as obtaining more information related to the formation of residual stresses and the temperature history during the flame cutting process. In addition, an extensive series of flame cut samples was designed with the assistance of the model.
Friction stir processing (FSP) is a solid-state material processing technique that locally modifies the microstructure but also induces undesirable residual stresses. A robust numerical model for the FSP can help in mitigating these residual stresses. Heat source models within a finite element method (FEM) framework suffer from inaccuracies. In contrast, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model that explicitly captures the material flow near the tool and the associated heat generation are accurate. However, the computational expense of SPH simulations can be prohibitive. In this work, we propose a coupled SPH-FEM framework. SPH is used to model the heat generation accurately near the tool and which is then inserted into to the FEM model as a heat source. To verify this proposed coupling approach, a test case is set up with typical FSP conditions and it is modeled in both SPH and SPH-FEM. The temperatures profiles were compared after the simulations have reached steady-state temperatures. The similarity of the temperature profiles from SPH-FEA and SPH validated the proposed coupling approach. This proposed approach achieves the accuracy of the SPH method while potentially retaining the low computational expense of FEM.
9Cr-1Mo steel designated as P9 is widely used in the construction of power plants and high-temperature applications. It is chosen for fabricating hexcan fuel subassembly wrapper components of fast breeder reactors. Arc welding processes are generally used for fabricating 9Cr-1Mo steel weld joints. A-TIG welding process is increasingly being adopted by the industries. In the present study, shielded metal arc (SMA), tungsten inert gas (TIG) and A-TIG welding processes are used for fabricating the 9Cr-1Mo steel weld joints of 10 mm thickness. Effect of the above welding processes on the microstructure evolution, mechanical properties and residual stresses of the weld joints has been studied in detail. All the three weld joints exhibited comparable strength and ductility values. 9Cr-1Mo steel weld joint fabricated by SMAW process exhibited lower impact toughness values caused by coarser grain size and inclusions. 9Cr-1Mo steel weld joint fabricated by TIG welding exhibited higher toughness due to finer grain size, while the weld joint fabricated by A-TIG welding process exhibited adequate toughness values. SMA steel weld joint exhibited compressive residual stresses in the weld metal and HAZ, while TIG and A-TIG weld joint exhibited tensile residual stresses in the weld metal and HAZ.
Temperature change after formation commonly results in thermal residual stress in multilayered structures due to the different thermal and mechanical properties of each layer. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) elastic model is developed to study the residual stress and opening-mode fractures (OMFs) in a multilayered structure consisting of arbitrary number of layers under temperature change. The general solution of displacement field in the multilayered structure is derived by solving the elastic boundary value problem. In order to verify the proposed model, the elastic field in the advanced polymeric solar reflectors that consist of four layers is solved by applying the present model and compared with the finite-element (FE) simulation. In addition, parametric studies are conducted to investigate the effect of the thickness ratio between each layer on the accuracy of the developed model. As a result, based on the obtained elastic field, the fracture energy release rate (ERR) in the surface layer of the advanced polymeric reflector is obtained and used to study the fracture initiation, infilling, and saturation successfully.
About two-thirds of the residual stress in cold-worked SAE 1050 steel tie rods was relieved by heating 30 minutes at 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold-worked austenitic stainless-steel tie rods could be heated at temperatures up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit without lowering the important physical properties. The corrosion resistance, in laboratory corrosion test, of straight 18:8 and titanium-treated 18:8 materials appeared to be impaired after heating at temperatures above 800 degrees or 900 degrees fahrenheit. Columbium-treated and molybdenum-treated 18:8 steel exhibited improved stability over a wide range of temperatures. Tie rods of either material could be heated 30 minutes with safety at any temperature up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature most of the residual stress would be relieved.
In a directed energy deposition (DED) process, the energy density deposited into the materials drives the structure and properties. The energy density is influenced by several printing parameters, such as laser power, hatch spacing, scanning speed, etc. In this study, 316L stainless steels samples were fabricated with varying hatch spacing aiming to induce variations in sample microstructure and properties. A combination of techniques including engineering neutron diffraction, neutron computed tomography, and tensile testing, were employed to correlate the structure and macroscopic properties. Porosity was predominantly observed at the bottom of the deposited materials and was effectively reduced by decreased hatch spacing. Correlatively, compressive residual stress was observed at the bottom of the specimens, while internal stress is largely determined by the hatch spacing. The residual stress in general decreases as the hatch spacing decreases. The maximum ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was found to increase from 517.4 to 528.6 MPa with a strain increased from 0.847 to 0.897 as the hatch spacing decreased from 0.45 to 0.42 mm. However, further increase in energy density by reducing the hatch spacing resulted in a significant decrease in UTS (as low as 452 MPa). This work provides new insights from bulk non-destructive techniques into correlating energy density induced residual stress, porosity, and mechanical property variations in directed energy deposition.
Here, this paper aims to present spot pattern welding (SPW) as a scanning strategy for laser-foil-printing (LFP) additive manufacturing (AM) in place of the previously used continuous pattern welding (CPW) (line-raster scanning). The SPW strategy involves generating a sequence of overlapping spot welds on the metal foil, allowing the laser to form dense and uniform weld beads. This in turn reduces thermal gradients, promotes material consolidation and helps mitigate process-related risks such as thermal cracking, porosity, keyholing and Marangoni effects. 304L stainless steel (SS) feedstock is used to fabricate test specimens using the LFP system. Imaging techniques are used to examine the melt pool dimensions and layer bonding. In addition, the parts are evaluated for residual stresses, mechanical strength and grain size. Compared to CPW, SPW provides a more reliable heating/cooling relationship that is less dependent on part geometry. The overlapping spot welds distribute heat more evenly, minimizing the risk of elevated temperatures during the AM process. In addition, the resulting dense and uniform weld beads contribute to lower residual stresses in the printed part. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to thoroughly investigate SPW as a scanning strategy using the LFP process. In general, SPW presents a promising strategy for securing embedded sensors into LFP parts while minimizing residual stresses.
An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the magnitude of lamination residual stresses in angle-ply composites and to evaluate their effects on composite structural integrity. The materials investigated were boron/epoxy, boron/polyimide, graphite/low modulus epoxy, graphite/high modulus epoxy, graphite/polyimide and s-glass/epoxy. These materials were fully characterized. Static properties of laminates were also determined. Experimental techniques using embedded strain gages were developed and used to measure residual strains during curing. The extent of relaxation of lamination residual stresses was investigated. It was concluded that the degree of such relaxation is low. The behavior of angle-ply laminates subjected to thermal cycling, tensile load cycling, and combined thermal cycling with tensile load was investigated. In most cases these cycling programs did not have any measurable influence on residual strength and stiffness of the laminates. In the tensile load cycling tests, the graphite/polyimide shows the highest endurance with 10 million cycle runouts at loads up to 90 percent of the static strength.
Photovoltaic (PV) module reliability issues, due to silicon cell cracking, are gaining more and more attention due to increasing demand for solar power and reduction of cell thickness to reduce cost. Recent reports show significant effect of encapsulation polymer material on cell cracks leading to the idea of tailoring encapsulation materials for more reliable PV modules. This paper investigates the effect of encapsulation modulus on the cell residual stress using Synchrotron scanning X-ray microdiffraction (µSXRD), which has been proven to be an effective technique to probe the stress in silicon solar cells, especially once they are encapsulated. The post lamination residual stress in the encapsulated multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells was reported for the first time using µSXRD in this manuscript and provide quantitative evaluation of the effect of encapsulation modulus on the cell residual stress. Further, simple approximate finite element (FE) model was also developed to evaluate the effect of the encapsulation polymer on the cell stress. The FE simulations predict the trend of the stress variation with encapsulation polymer modulus very well. Dynamic mechanical analysis and rheological testing of the encapsulation polymers was also performed to correlate the polymer behaviour with the experimental and simulated stresses. Both experimental and simulation results show a similar trend of significant cell stress variation with encapsulation polymer modulus. In the case of external loading, the temperature of load application is observed to be very significant as it dictates the elastic state of the encapsulant, leading to critical conclusion that the encapsulant needs to be selected based on elastic behaviour over the temperature history of the encapsulant during module fabrication and operation. Furthermore, the results and discussion presented are expected to be very useful for development of more reliable PV modules.
Integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) provides a pathway to advance performance in structures through the use of physically-based models to better understand how manufacturing processes influence product performance. As one particular challenge, consider that residual stresses induced in fabrication are pervasive and directly impact the life of structures. For ICME to be an effective strategy, it is essential that predictive capability be developed in conjunction with critical experiments. In the present paper, simulation results from a multi-physics model for gas metal arc welding are evaluated through x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. A test component was designed with intent to develop significant gradients in residual stress, be representative of real-world engineering application, yet remain tractable for finely spaced strain measurements with positioning equipment available at synchrotron facilities. Finally, the experimental validation lends confidence to model predictions, facilitating the explicit consideration of residual stress distribution in prediction of fatigue life.
The effect of laser shock peening (LSP) on the residual stress, microstructure and hot corrosion behavior of damage-tolerant TC21 alloy was investigated. The equilateral scanning pattern was adopted to obtain a large overlapping area for LSP. The hot corrosion experiments in a salt mixture composed of 75 wt.% Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4} + 25 wt.% NaCl at 700 and 800 °C for a total exposure of 25 h were conducted. The results demonstrated that LSP caused a high compressive residual stress with a significant increase in micro-hardness and microstructural changes in the form of crystal defects, i.e., high density dislocations. The crystal defects promoted the outward diffusion of Al, Cr and Ti to form protective mixed oxides (Al, Cr, Ti)O{sub 2}. These oxides improved the adhesion of outer oxide layer and hindered the inward diffusion of O, S and Cl, which was beneficial to improve hot corrosion resistance. The mass gains of LSP-treated specimens after hot corrosion at 700 and 800 °C were, respectively, 3.72 and 4.78 mg/cm{sup 2}, which were much lower than those of untreated specimens (5.65 and 6.81 mg/cm{sup 2}). Therefore, LSP leads to an improvement in resistance to hot corrosion of TC21 alloy.
Projected applications for nanoscale metallic multilayers will include wide temperature ranges. Since film residual stress has been known to alter system reliability, stress development within new film structures with high interfacial densities should be characterized to identify potential long-term performance barriers. To understand factors contributing to thermal stress evolution within nanoscale metallic multilayers, stress in Cu/Nb systems adhered to Si substrates was calculated from curvature measurements collected during cycling between 25 °C and 400 °C. Additionally, stress within each type of component layers was calculated from shifts in the primary peak position from in-situ heated X-ray diffraction. The effects of both film architecture (layer thickness) and layer order in metallic multilayers were tracked and compared with monolithic Cu and Nb films. Analysis indicated that the thermoelastic slope of nanoscale metallic multilayer films depends on thermal expansion mismatch, elastic modulus of the components, and also interfacial density. The layer thickness (i.e. interfacial density) affected thermoelastic slope magnitude while layer order had minimal impact on stress responses after the initial thermal cycle. When comparing stress responses of monolithic Cu and Nb films to those of the Cu/Nb systems, the nanoscale metallic multilayers show a similar increase in stress above 200 °C to the Nb monolithic films, indicating that Nb components play a larger role in stress development than Cu. Local stress calculations from X-ray diffraction peak shifts collected during heating reveal that the component layers within a multilayer film respond similarly to their monolithic counterparts.