An empirical methodlogy to estimate a local yield stress in work-hardened surface layers

A methodology is proposed for estimating the local yield stress in work-hardened surface layers. It is based on the concept of in-depth normalized variation of hardness and x-ray diffraction peak width, both of which measure the strain-hardening attained by the materials' surface-treated layers due to, for example, shot-peening. Its principle is directly founded on the classical hardness theory. To study the evolution of those values with plastic deformation, specimens of five steels with different mechanical properties were subjected to interrupted tensile tests. The tests were performed at successive increments of plastic strain, until fracture occurred. The specimens were loaded and unloaded in increments of about 2% true strain. After each plastic strain increment, hardness and diffraction peak width were measured. It was observed that the variations of diffraction peak width and hardness are related to the material's strain-hardening, and their normalized variations can be considered proportional to the normalized variation of the material's yield stress. Thus, where the yield stress of the bulk material, its hardness or a characteristic diffraction peak width value, and their relative variations along the hardened layers, are known, an empirical expression could be used to estimate the local yield stress as a function of the treated depth.