The measurement of residual stress in textured steel using an ultrasonic velocity combinations technique

Abstract A new ultrasonic technique for the determination of residual stresses in steel, intended to correct for the effects of variable texture and microstructure, is proposed. The method is based upon the use of the compressional wave time delay in addition to the time delays of two orthogonally polarized shear waves used in the shear wave birefringence technique. This method is justified theoretically using expressions for the ultrasonic velocities in an aggregate of orthorhombic symmetry composed of cubic crystallites. Measurements of the three time delays for propagation in the through thickness direction have been made on a large number of steel plates selected at random. The measurements are found to fall on two lines, and reveal that two types of texture are present in rolled steel plates. In the presence of a stress, the measured points deviate from the lines and this effect is quantified theoretically using elastic constants obtained by applying a uniaxial compressive stress to one of the samples. The usefulness of the technique to determine a residual stress distribution is demonstrated by measurements near the tip of a crack in a compact tension specimen.