Investigation of residual stress relaxation under cyclic load

Compressive residual stresses induced by mechanical surface treatment such as shot peening, autofretage, hole expansion, laser shock peening, and low-plasticity burnishing can be highly beneficial to fatigue resistance. Cyclic relaxation of compressive residual stress, however, reduces the benefit. An analytical model is proposed for estimation of residual stress relaxation. Parameters considered by the model include the magnitude and distribution of the residual stress, the degree of cold working required, the applied alternating and mean stresses, and the number of applied loading cycles. An elasto–plastic finite element model was used to demonstrate the model.