An assessment of residual-stress measurements around cold-worked holes

An X-ray diffraction technique was employed to determine the residual stresses introduced by cold working a fastener hole in a 6-mm thick 2024-T351 aluminum plate. The radial and tangenital residual stresses were measured at both faces of the plate and the measurements compared with the results from a two-dimensional axisymmetric finite-element model. The comparisons were favorable, although modifying the finite-element model to simulate the X-ray process provided better agreement. Experimental determinations of residual stresses showed differences between the two faces of the plate. This feature was attributed to the directional nature of the cold-working process. Paper was presented at the 1994 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Baltimore, MD on June 8–10.