Technical Note

Variable material property method in the analysis of

cold-worked fastener holes
H Jahed
1
, S B Lambert
2
and R N Dubey
2
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Abstract: Based on a general axisymmetric method of elasticplastic analysis presented by Jahed and
Dubey, elasticplastic boundaries and residual stress fields induced by cold expansion of fastener holes is
predicted. The method uses a linear elastic solution to construct an elasticplastic solution. The material
parameters are treated as field variables and their spatial distributions are obtained as part of the solution.
This method uses the actual loadingunloading behaviour of the material and therefore is capable of
predicting an accurate residual stress field. Results obtained here are compared with available experimental
and finite element results. The agreement of the results with experimental measurements is very good. It is
shown that employment of the actual unloading material curve can make a significant change in residual
field prediction.
Keywords: variable material property method, cold working, fastener holes
1 INTRODUCTION
The variable material property method of axisymmetric
elasticplastic analysis [1] is capable of predicting the
residual stress field induced by fastener hole expansion.
This method is able to consider:
(a) elasticperfectly plastic, multilinear plastic, the Ram-
bergOsgood formula or the actual material behaviour
during loading and unloading,
(b) the von Mises, Tresca or any other yield criterion,
(c) plastic unloading with kinematic or isotropic hard-
ening rules,
(d) the Bauschinger effect and its changes as a function of
plastic strain induced during loading and
(e) material compressibility.
As described in reference [1], the total strain is related to
current stress through

ij

1
eff
E
eff

ij

eff
E
eff

kk

ij
(1)
where
E
eff

3E
3 2E

eff

3 E
3 2E
(2)
Here the function is a scalar valued function defined
from Hencky's total deformation theory:

p
ij
S
ij
(3)
where S
ij
denotes the deviatoric stress components and
p
ij
is the equivalent plastic strain defined by

p
eq

2
3

p
ij

p
ij
q
(4)
This method is applied here for the analysis of the
unloading behaviour of fastener holes and some numerical
results are presented here. These results include (a) the
residual stress predictions based on consideration of the
actual loadingunloading behaviour and (b) the prediction
of the elasticplastic boundary. Results are compared with
available experimental measurements and finite element
calculations.
137
The MS was received on 5 May 1998 and was accepted after revision for
publication on 13 July 1999.

Corresponding author: School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran Uni-

versity of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran 16844, Iran.
S02698 # IMechE 2000 JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2
2 ACTUAL STRESSSTRAIN UNLOADING
CURVE
There have been many experimental measurements made
to find the residual stress in fastener holes. With the
exception of a few, the majority did not record the actual
loadingunloading behaviour of the material used. In many
of these investigations the uniaxial stressstrain curve (for
monotonic loading) was obtained to find the values of the
modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio and yield strength.
However, the actual curves were not used in the analysis.
Poussard et al. [2] provided the actual unloading curve for
aluminium alloy 2024-T351. Figure 1 is based on Fig. 1
from Poussard et al. [2] showing this curve. Two commonly
used models of the behaviour are also shown in the same
figure. Neither of these models represents the unloading
behaviour precisely. There exists a pronounced Bauschin-
ger effect in this aluminium alloy. While the monotonic
loading curve represents a linear hardening behaviour, with
a slope of 0.022E, the reversed yield stress (based on 0:1
per cent proof stress) remains at a constant value of
110 MPa for unloading from different plastic strain
states. This suggests that the Bauschinger effect is a
function of plastic strain.
The experimental determination of residual stresses in
the same aluminium alloy 2024-T351 was recorded by
Priest et al. [3]. The results are rather scattered. For
example, the measured hoop residual stress in a 4 per cent
cold-worked plate is compressive even far away from the
hole edge. Priest et al. [3] suggested that the measured
values are highly influenced by the stresses existing in the
plate prior to cold working. However, they did not record
the as-received residual stress field.
In earlier independent work, Mann and Jost [4] also
recorded the results of experimental measurements on
aluminium alloy 2024. The experimental results, based on
the work of Lowak [5], are for a 4:5 per cent cold-worked
fastener hole with an initial hole radius of 8 mm.
The present method of analysis was used to predict the
residual stress field for a 4:5 per cent cold-worked plate.
The actual unloading behaviour of aluminium alloy 2024
shown in Fig. 1 was used. The changes in the Bauschinger
Fig. 1 Uniaxial loadingunloading response of aluminium alloy 2024-T351. (Based on Fig. 1 of reference [2])
JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2 S02698 # IMechE 2000
138 H JAHED, S B LAMBERT AND R N DUBEY
effect were accounted for in the analysis, by setting the
compressive yield at 110 MPa as observed from the
uniaxial curve.
An infinite plate with a hole of 8 mm initial radius was
considered. The residual stress field due to 4:5 per cent
expansion of the hole was obtained and the results are
shown in Fig. 2. The shape of the predicted curve near and
at the hole edge indicates the possibility of reversed yield.
However, the experimental results do not show any reversed
yielding and show only elastic unloading. This may be due
to the method of measurement (X-rays). The general
agreement between the present method and the experimen-
tal values is good. This agreement suggests the importance
of actual unloading curve employment in the analysis. The
prediction by Rich and Impelizzerri [6], which is one of the
few methods that accounts for reversed yielding is also
shown in this figure.
Poussard et al. [2] have employed the actual loading
behaviour of aluminium alloy 2024 with the ABAQUS
finite element package to predict the residual stress field.
Different hardening models provided by ABAQUS (iso-
tropic and kinematic hardening rules) were used. Their
finite element analysis was on a plate with an initial hole
radius of 3:175 mm and width of 200 mm. The hole was
assumed to be 4 per cent cold expanded. The same
dimensions were employed to obtain the residual stress
field using the variable material property method. The
results are shown in Fig. 3. While the kinematic hardening
model underestimates the compressive stress at the hole
edge by 20 per cent in comparison with the actual loading
Fig. 2 Comparison of calculated and measured residual stress distribution for 4.5 per cent cold expanded hole in
aluminium alloy 2024 plate. (Experimental results from reference [4])
S02698 # IMechE 2000 JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2
VARIABLE MATERIAL PROPERTY METHOD IN THE ANALYSIS OF COLD-WORKED FASTENER HOLES 139
unloading curve, the isotropic model shows a uniform
compressive field near the hole. Both model predictions
away from the hole are very close to the present analysis
based on the actual unloading behaviour. The isotropic
hardening model stays closer to the present analysis away
from the hole. The difference in the radial residual stresses
is not significant.
3 ELASTICPLASTIC BOUNDARY PREDICTION
Knowledge of the size of the plastic zone in a fastener hole
is important in design and spacing of hole locations. Some
theoretical studies have been based entirely on predicting
the size of the plastic zone [7]. A comparison of the
prediction from different theories with the prediction from
the present method for the plastic zone radius is given
herein.
Poolsuk and Sharpe [8] conducted a series of experi-
ments to measure the exact size of the plastic zone and to
examine the validity of different theories in this regard.
They argued that it was easier to measure the location of
the elasticplastic boundary, rather than the complete
residual stress field. Since most of the experimental results
for the stress field have been found to be in poor agreement
with the values predicted by different theories, Poolsuk and
Sharpe [8] suggested that the theories could be evaluated
on the basis of their capabilities of predicting the elastic
plastic boundaries. The experiment was conducted on a
plate with a central hole of 3:3 mm radius made of
aluminium alloy 7075-T6. They used four different levels
of cold work and compared their measurements with
different theories.
Endo and Morrow [9] and Landgraf et al. [10] gave the
loadingunloading behaviour of aluminium alloy 7075-T6.
The data points for the monotonic loading curve are given
in Table 1. The yield stress and modulus of elasticity for
this curve match the specifications of one of the samples
used in the experiments of Poolsuk and Sharpe [8]. The
behaviour of this aluminium alloy cannot be modelled
precisely by any of the available hardening models.
However, consideration of the actual unloading curve have
more influence on the prediction of residual stresses closed
by the hole, as suggested by Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 Comparison of residual stress distribution for 4 per cent cold expanded hole in aluminium alloy 2024 plate.
(FEM results from reference [2])
JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2 S02698 # IMechE 2000
140 H JAHED, S B LAMBERT AND R N DUBEY
The elasticplastic radius results obtained from the
present method are shown in Table 2. The maximum elastic
displacement at the hole, u
aE
, in this table is given by
u
aE

(1 )
0
a
E

3
p (5)
where is Poisson's ratio, E is Young's modulus and
0
is
the yield stress.
Figure 4 displays the results obtained by the present
method and the experimental measurements of Poolsak and
Sharpe [8] for a similar plate with 3:18 mm thickness
which shows the best agreement. The prediction from some
other theories are also shown in the same figure. As can be
seen from Fig. 4, some of these predictions are far from the
experimental results [7, 11]. The work of Nadai [12] and
Hsu and Forman [13] showed the same trend as the
experimental results. However, the plastic radius predicted
by these two methods is not accurate. The solution given by
Table 1 Data for loading behaviour of aluminium alloy
7075-T6. (From reference [9])
Strain
Elastic
strain
Plastic
strain
Stress
(lbf=in
2
)
Stress
(MPa)
0.0057 0.0057 0.0000 60.92 420
0.0063 0.0063 0.0000 65.41 451
0.0079 0.0079 0.0000 72.95 503
0.0121 0.0114 0.0007 77.89 537
0.0185 0.0145 0.0040 87.89 606
0.0290 0.0090 0.0200 95.87 661
0.0450 0.0095 0.0355 99.93 689
Fig. 4 Comparison of predicted elasticplastic boundaries with measurements for aluminium alloy 7075-T6.
(Experimental results from reference [8])
S02698 # IMechE 2000 JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2
VARIABLE MATERIAL PROPERTY METHOD IN THE ANALYSIS OF COLD-WORKED FASTENER HOLES 141
Rich and Impelizzerri [6] is the best of the different
theories compared here. Nevertheless, the trend shown by
Rich and Impelizzerri [6] is different from that shown by
the experiment. It appears that this solution will deviate
very much from the experimental results for higher values
of u
a
=u
aE
. Chang's [14] solution is very close to the
solution obtained by Rich and Impelizzerri [6].
4 CONCLUSIONS
The general axisymmetric method of elasticplastic analy-
sis [1] has been employed to predict the elasticplastic
boundary and the residual stress field induced by the cold-
work expansion of the fastener holes. Results obtained by
this method were compared with experimental and finite
element results. From the results presented here it can be
concluded that the present method offers flexibility and
accuracy that may be useful in axisymmetric analysis of a
fastener hole.
REFERENCES
1 Jahed, H. and Dubey, R. N. An axisymmetric method of
elasticplastic analysis capable of predicting residual stress
field. Trans. ASME, J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 1997, 119,
264273.
2 Poussard, C., Pavier, M. and Smith, D. J. Analytical and
finite element predictions of residual stresses in cold worked
fastener holes. J. Strain Analysis, 1995, 30(4), 291304.
3 Priest, M., Poussard, C. G., Pavier, M. J. and Smith, D. J.
An assessment of residual-stress measurements around cold-
worked holes in Al 2024. In Proceedings of the Fourth
International Conference on Residual Stresses, Baltimore,
Maryland, 1995, pp. 324332.
4 Mann, J. Y. and Jost, G. S. Stress fields associated with
interference fitted and cold-expanded holes. Metal Forum,
1983, 6(1), 4353.
5 Lowak, H. Berichte FB-157, Fraunhofer-Institut Betriebs.,
1981.
6 Rich, D. L. and Impelizzerri, L. F. Fatigue analysis of cold-
worked and interference fit fastener holes. In Cyclic Stress
Strain and Plastic Deformation Aspects of Fatigue Growth,
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plastic boundary around cold worked fastener holes. Trans.
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behavior of representative aircraft metals. J. Mater., 1969,
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the cyclic stressstrain curve. J. Mater., 1969, 4(1), 176188.
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Force Materials Laboratory, 1978.
12 Nadai, A. Theory of the expanding of boiler and condenser
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13 Hsu, Y. C. and Forman, R. G. Elasticplastic analysis of an
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ASME, J. Appl. Mechanics, 1975, 42(2), 347352.
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cold worked fastener holes. AIAA paper 75-805.
Table 2 Results of the present method on the elastic
plastic boundary location
Expansion (%) u
a
(mm) u
a
=u
aE
r
p
=a
1.15 0.038 2 1.550
1.73 0.057 3 1.816
2.3 0.076 4 1.970
3.0 0.102 5.368 2.180
3.85 0.127 6.68 2.288
4.60 0.152 8 2.394
JOURNAL OF STRAIN ANALYSIS VOL 35 NO 2 S02698 # IMechE 2000
142 H JAHED, S B LAMBERT AND R N DUBEY