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Residual Stress

Residual stress is the stress present in a material in the absence of externally applied loading. These stresses can often form during manufacturing, and are typically an unintentional byproduct of a manufacturing process. Residual stresses can be caused by a number of factors, including plastic deformations, temperature cycles, or phase transformations.

Residual stresses can positively or negatively affect a product’s performance, which makes them a vital consideration for any critical design component. Often, structures are designed with considerable safety factors, in which case the effects of residual stress can be ignored, but as we push for higher performing structures that operate closer to the cutting-edge of technology, factors like residual stress can be the difference between successful performance and structural failure.

Positive values of residual stress are referred to as tensile, meaning the material is being pulled or stretched. Unintended tensile residual stresses can cause undesirable results, including cracking and failure. If tensile stresses induced by manufacturing processes are not taken into account, these can lead to premature failure.

A slim metal coupon with a fracture surface showing a crack growth area shaped like ripples from a source location.
A fatigue crack that grew from a countersunk fastener hole.

Negative values of residual stress are referred to as compressive, meaning the material is being pushed together. These kinds of residual stresses can improve the performance of fatigue-critical components. Surface treatment processes like shot peening and laser shock peening intentionally introduce compressive stress in select locations at the material surface to make products perform better. For instance, introducing compressive residual stress can toughen brittle materials such as glass in smartphone screens or pre-stressed concrete used in city infrastructure.

A construction worker wearing a yellow hard hat crouched over a grid of metal rebar.
Rebar is often used to negatively pre-stress concrete in order to prevent cracking.

Overall, the residual stress on any given plane in a material must be in equilibrium, but there can be local regions with tensile or compressive stress. Below is our Residual Stress 101 vlog, which highlights the information above.

Residual stress engineering involves the practice of manipulating residual stresses in order to maximize the usability and lifespan of manufactured components.

Through residual stress measurement techniques, Hill Engineering is capable of quantifying the internal stresses in a material, to better inform design decisions. We are the industry leader in Contour Method measurements and provide the same level of precision and accountability in a broad range of other residual stress measurement methods.

The methods we employ are as follows:

Hill Engineering is a trusted source for a wide range of measurement capabilities. For more information about residual stresses or any of the residual stress measurement techniques we employ at Hill Engineering, feel free to contact us.

Case studies

Residual Stress Field Team TrueSlot® – near surface residual stress measurement ExpressRS® – expedited residual stress results Strain Gaging Services Residual Stress DART – automated residual stress measurement Mechanical stress relief of aluminum alloys Rapid Forge Design Aluminum forging quench modeling Machining distortion modeling with multi-step models including residual stress

Technical Publications

Measurement-driven, model-based estimation of residual stress and its effect on fatigue crack growth. Part 2: fatigue crack growth testing and modeling Measurement-driven, model-based estimation of residual stress and its effects on fatigue crack growth. Part 1: validation of an eigenstrain model Near Surface Residual Stress Measurement Using Slotting Measurement Layout for Residual Stress Mapping Using Slitting Precision of Hole-Drilling Residual Stress Depth Profile Measurements and an Updated Uncertainty Estimator An Uncertainty Estimator for Slitting Method Residual Stress Measurements Including the Influence of Regularization Validation of a Contour Method Single-Measurement Uncertainty Estimator Repeatability of Contour Method Residual Stress Measurements for a Range of Materials, Processes, and Geometries PSR Biaxial Residual Stress Mapping Validation The Contour Method (book chapter)