Via Delle Calandre 63

50041 Calenzano (Florence) – Italy

Tel: +39.055.8826-302 – Fax: -303
www.sintechnology.com
info@sintechnology.com

RESIDUAL STRESS MEASUREMENTS BY HOLE

DRILLING ACCORDING TO ASTM E837 STANDARD
 PRESENTATION CONTENTS

• What are residual stresses

• Residual stress causes

• RS measuring methods with strain gages

• The hole-drilling strain-gage method

• The standard ASTM E837

• The instrument used for the measurements

• Typical application fields

• Typical measurement results

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 What are residual stresses
All stresses that occur in the materials, also without the application of any external load,
are termed residual stresses
Residual stresses influence a mechanical component’s behaviour as they:
 Affect structural and dimensional stability
 Reduce fatigue strength and crack resistance
 Encourage surface crack growth

Residual stresses therefore limit load

capacity and safety of mechanical
components during operation

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 Residual stress causes

Residual stresses can be caused by several main factors:

 Fabrication process (forging, welding)  Machining process (turning)

 Heat treatments (quenching)  Surface treatments (shot peening)

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Residual stress measuring methods with strain gages

Hole
Drilling

Ring Coring

Slitting

Sectioning /
Layer removal

Sach’s boring

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 The hole-drilling strain-gage method

The hole-drilling strain-gage method is the most widely used method for
measuring residual stresses, for several reasons:
• Very simple

• Low cost of the machine (and of the test when using an automatic system)

• Possibility to elaborate the results up to at least 1mm in a very fast way

• High availability of strain gages and accessories for the measurement

• Compliant to ASTM E837, the only complete standard on RS

measurements available in the world
• Availability of AUTOMATIC MACHINE with very high resolution and
accuracy thanks to the complete control of all the measurement parameters

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 The hole-drilling strain-gage method

The hole-drilling strain-gage method consists in drilling a small hole (approx.

1.8 mm x 2.0 mm) into the centre of a 3-element strain rosette with suitable drill
bits and a special air turbine (400,000 RPM)

The hole changes the initial strain allowing redistribution of the

residual stresses originally existing in the material

Φ 1.8
mm

2 mm

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 Hole-drilling strain-gage method to ASTM E837

The hole-drilling strain-gage method is the only method for calculating residual stress
that is STANDARDIZED at world level (ASTM E837)
The first version of this standard dates back to 1995, the latest upgrade is available from
the end of 2013

Standard ASTM E837 specifies:

 The number of drilling increments required
 The numerical coefficients for determining the value of residual stresses
 The data processing method
 The measurement-related uncertainty

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 Hole-drilling strain-gage method to ASTM E837-13

Different types of holes, based on the workpiece thickness:

THROUGH HOLE - THIN WORKPIECE

Workpiece thickness < 0.2·DGAGE (std. 1mm)

stresses are considered uniform over

the drilling depth

INTERMEDIATE HOLE
Workpiece thickness between 0.2·DGAGE e DGAGE (std. between 1mm and 5mm)

THROUGH HOLE INTERMEDIATE HOLE

 Drilling depth: entire thickness  Approximate results
 Stresses are assumed to be uniform  The elaboration of the test result is
 Acquisition of a set of 3 strain values outside the scope of the ASTM E837-13
once the through hole is completed standard

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 Hole-drilling strain-gage method to ASTM E837

BLIND HOLE (Typical) – THICK WORKPIECE

Workpiece thickness > DGAGE (std. 5mm)

UNIFORM STRESSES NOT UNIFORM STRESSES

 Drilling depth: 0.2 · DGAGE (std 1mm)  Drilling depth: 0.2 · DGAGE (std 1mm)
 Stress value over the drilling depth  Residual stress pattern over the drilling depth
 10 drilling steps of 0.02 · DGAGE (std  20 drilling steps of 0.01 · DGAGE (std 0.05 mm)
0.1 mm)  Evolution of the “old” Integral Method

A “uniform stress” calculation is appropriate when prior information is available, for

example, based on workpiece geometry or processing procedure.
Another purpose of doing a uniform stress calculation is to determine a representative
size of the residual stresses that are present.

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 The instrument used for the measurements

The MTS3000 system is the only fully AUTOMATIC and portable instrument in the
world for determining residual stress by the hole-drilling strain-gage method

The MTS3000 system consists of:

 A mechanical setup housing the optical system and drilling system
 An electronic control unit
 A digital strain gage amplifier
 Control and back-calculation software

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The instrument: measuring chain

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 The instrument: main advantages

Chief advantages in using

an AUTOMATIC system:

 Higher repeatability of measurement  Shorter testing time

 Higher hole drilling accuracy  Fully compliant to ASTM E837 standard

HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY REDUCTION IN COSTS

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 The instrument: fields of application
The MTS3000 system can be used to determine residual stresses on a wide variety of
materials, such as:
 Standard metals (e.g. Steel, Aluminum, Cast iron)
 Non-standard metals (e.g. Titanium, High Tensile Steels)
 Plastics (e.g. ABS, Polycarbonate)
 Composites

 Air turbine (standard)

CHOICE OF CONFIGURATION
 Electric motor (plastics, composites)

 Feed rate
CHOICE OF CUTTING AND
 Rotational speed
RECORDING PARAMETERS
 Delay time

 Tungsten carbide
CHOICE OF TYPE OF CUTTER  Tungsten carbide with coatings
 Diamond

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 Hole drilling: typical application fields
• In 95% of the cases, the stresses are NOT uniform with the depth

• It’s difficult to measure residual stresses without a suitable machine because of the lower
precision of these instrument in the detection of the starting point and of the step/total
depth: this situation can lead to big errors in the post-elaboration of the results

• Generally, it’s difficult to predict the residual stress value of a component BUT…

• …In some typical application fields, it’s possible to have typical measurement results

- Typical on-site measurements -

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 Typical measurement results: Automotive
• Cracked area

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 Typical measurement results: Automotive
• Cracked area

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 Typical measurement results: Aerospace
• Stress-relieved welding area

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 Typical measurement results: Aerospace
• Stress-relieved welding area

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 Typical measurement results: Oil & Gas
• Shot-peened area

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 Typical measurement results: Oil & Gas
• Shot-peened area

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 Typical measurement results: Production control
• Welding area

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 Typical measurement results: Production control
• Welding area

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 Typical measurement results: Production control
• Before & after stress-relieving heat treatment

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 Typical measurement results: Production control
• Before & after stress-relieving heat treatment

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Via Delle Calandre 63- 50041 Calenzano (Florence) – Italy
Tel: +39.055.8826-302 – Fax: -303
www.sintechnology.com
info@sintechnology.com