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A new procedure is proposed to determine sub-surface residual stress gradients by laboratory X-ray diffraction measurements at different depths using a chemical layer-removal technique. The standard correction algorithm for stress relaxation due to layer removal is improved by including corrections for X-ray absorption, and by the addition of constraints imposed by the mechanical equilibrium conditions. Besides correcting the data, i.e. providing more reliable through-thickness residual stress trends, the proposed procedure also provides an elastically compatible and plausible estimate of the residual stress inside the component, well beyond the measured region. The application of the model is illustrated for a set of Al-alloy components shot-peened at different Almen intensities. Results are compared with those given by `blind hole drilling', which is an independent and partly destructive method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the residual stress state of thermally sprayed ceramic coatings was examined by combining different experimental and analytical techniques, in order to provide a thorough characterisation of through-thickness stress profiles and a cross-verification of results. HVOF-sprayed ceramics, manufactured using commercial and nanostructured Al2O3 powders and commercial Cr2O3 powders, and atmospheric plasma-sprayed (APS) ceramics, manufactured using commercial Al2O3 and Cr2O3 powders, were investigated. The near-surface stress was measured by X-ray diffraction. The through-thickness profile and the intrinsic quenching stress were analytically computed by the Tsui–Clyne iterative model, using the X-ray measurement result as input, and results were validated by the substrate chemical removal method. Further verification was achieved by applying the in-situ curvature technique to the deposition of HVOF-sprayed Al2O3 coating. HVOF-sprayed Al2O3 coatings deposited using both conventional and nanostructured powders feature a similar, almost equibiaxial tensile stress on the top surface (116.5 MPa and 136.5 MPa, respectively) and a moderate through-thickness gradient (about 12 MPa and 20 MPa, respectively). Their intrinsic quenching stresses were analytically estimated to be 184 MPa and 205 MPa, respectively. APS Al2O3 possesses higher top surface stress (220 MPa) and quenching stress (311 MPa). However, it shows a less pronounced stress gradient (≈3 MPa) than HVOF-sprayed Al2O3-based coatings, because cracks, pores and weak lamella boundaries in the APS coating can accommodate the deformations induced by the bending moments arising both during coating deposition and during cooling. The model-derived quenching stress of the conventional HVOF Al2O3 coating was validated by the in-situ curvature measurement technique. Cr2O3-based coatings are significantly different. They display a lower residual stress in the near-surface region: 20 MPa in the APS coating, 27.5 MPa in the HVOF one. The HVOF coating also exhibits a very large stress gradient of ≈77 MPa. Machining and sliding processes (like polishing and dry sliding tribological testing) change their surface residual stresses to compressive ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]