The Effect of Machining Operations on Changes in Curvature and Redistribution of Residual Stresses

During machining of a residually stressed component, part of the residual stresses contributing to the equilibrium of the internal forces is removed along with the material. As a result of the machining operation, the remaining body distorts in order to re-establish the equilibrium of internal forces. The purpose of this research was to develop a methodology for predicting curvature change and redistribution of the residual stresses induced by removal of a layer of material from a rectangular block containing a uniaxial residual stress pattern. The residual stress distribution throughout the thickness of the component was assumed to be known and symmetrical with respect to the mid-section of the block. Closed-form solutions and finite element simulations for curvature change as well as redistribution of residual stress pattern as a function of thickness of machined layer are presented in this paper.