Determination of the effect of cold working compression on residual stress reduction in quenched aluminium alloy 2219 block

Abstract

Residual stresses are induced in components during mechanical, thermal, machining, and plating operations. If not carefully considered in the design process, residual stress can be a significant factor in the failure of components, particularly when subjected to alternating service loads or corrosive environments. The induced residual stresses in three quenched aluminium alloy 2219 blocks were experimentally investigated, and cold working compression was performed at room temperature to relieve the stresses. High residual stresses were observed in the blocks after quenching. Therefore, their reduction became necessary to improve the tolerance of machined parts and avoid their failure. The samples were cold-worked at various compression ratios (CR). The residual stresses were significantly relieved, and it was discovered that 2 % CR offers a considerable effective reduction in the residual stress. Relieving these residual stresses will improve the reliability of the samples and the components to be manufactured.