Intermethod Comparison and Evaluation of Measured Near Surface Residual Stress in Milled Aluminum

Background While near surface residual stress (NSRS) from milling is a driver for distortion in aluminum parts there are few studies that directly compare available techniques for NSRS measurement. Objective We report application and assessment of four different techniques for evaluating residual stress versus depth in milled aluminum parts. Methods The four techniques are: hole-drilling, slotting, cos(α) x-ray diffraction (XRD), and sin 2 (ψ) XRD, all including incremental material removal to produce a stress versus depth profile. The milled aluminum parts are cut from stress-relieved plate, AA7050-T7451, with a range of table and tool speeds used to mill a large flat surface in several samples. NSRS measurements are made at specified locations on each sample. Results Resulting data show that NSRS from three techniques are in general agreement: hole-drilling, slotting, and sin 2 (ψ) XRD. At shallow depths (