A calculation method for residual stress of cold expanded hole based on measured springback

[Display omitted] •A calculation method for residual stress of cold expanded hole was proposed.•The mechanism of cold expansion improving fatigue life was revealed.•The saturation effect of interference on residual stress and fatigue life was found. Cold expansion can improve the fatigue life of bearing hole by introducing compressive residual stress. However, there is yet difficulty to measure the stress of hole wall because of the geometry and device limitations. In this study, a calculation method of residual stress based on the experimental-theoretical method is proposed by considering the circumferential symmetry of cold expansion. Stress and displacement are analyzed in the loading and unloading stages, and the measured springback is used in the unloading stage. The residual stress accuracy of the proposed method is significantly better than that of the classical elastic–plastic theory. Moreover, the effects of interference, expansion cycles and expansion speed on surface integrity and fatigue life are analyzed. It is found that interference is the most influencing parameter in coad expansion process, and there is a saturation effect of interference on improving the residual stress and fatigue life of bearing holes.