X-Ray Diffraction Measurements of Residual Stress Induced by Surface Compressing Methods

Residual stresses have a fundamental effect on the operational behaviour and lifetime of industrial products. The fatigue resistance of machine parts can be increased by introducing residual compressive stresses into the surface region. For certain machine parts especially in the vehicle industry the residual stress is strongly demanded by the quality control. For this reason, measuring the stress accurately is becoming increasingly important. The Almen test, which only gives a qualitative result, is widely used in the industry. Shot peening and rolling are methods which are suitable for creating elastic residual stresses. This paper examines the technologies used by Raba Futomű Nyrt. to increase the lifetime by means of residual stress. We performed analysis of the residual stress of samples shot peened the same way but under different heat treatment states. We compared the residual stress values of burnished and hardened shaft joints, and the residual stress states of gear made of hardened alloy, comparing the carbonized ones to ones which were shot peened under small intensity.