VIBRATORY STRESS RELIEF IN MANUFACTURING

PROCESSES
ANALYTICAL METHOD
Analytical Model
Equation of motion in the elastic range is expressed as:
mX2+2Kx(x-u-Zpx) = 0
where

Z px

(1)

is permanent desplacement of springs in x-axis. Equation of motion for

relative desplacement z(=x-u) is written as:

mZ2 +2Kx(Z-Zpx) = -mU2

(2)

ky

Ze

x
m

Zfx is defined as yield diaplacement. When springs in

kx

x-axis are subjected to tensile stress and are yielding,

Z-Zpx>Zfx, Z1>0 , eqation of motion is,
mZ2+2Fx =-mU2 (3)

ky

kx
Ze

Fig.2
Analytical model

where Fx is yield force in x-axis. Permanent

displacement is given as:
Z px Z pr Z fx

where

Z pr

(4)

is displacement when Z1 becomes 0 to negative. Then, Eq.(1) for elastic

range is used. In the case where springs in x-axis are yielding when springs are subjected
to compressive atress, yield force change as residual stress
z Z px Z ff

fsy

changes. When

, where Z ff is yield displacement, and, Z1<0, equation of motion is written

as:
mZ2 -2(Fx-fsy) =mU2 (5)
where Z ff is given as:
Zff =(fsy-Fx)/(ws*ws)

(6)

ws is initial natural circular frequency and initial f sy is

given as:

k y Ze .

Permanent displacement is

Z px Z mr Z fx

(7)

where Z mr is displacement when Z1comes 0 to positive. Then, Eq.(1) for elastic range is
used.

Fy

It is assumed that length of plastic area in the

direction of the bead is equal to width of the bead

fy
kyZe

-Fx

fx

and volume of plastic area is constant. Then, sum

of plastic deformation in y-axis

Z py

Z py 0.5Z px

-Fy

(8)

Residual stress with surface vibration is evaluated

as:
fsy =Ky(Ze-Zpy)

Fx

is given as:

Fig3
Tresca yield criterion

(9)

Residual stress is considered to be reduced through the pass shown in Fig.12.

Results of Analysis
Excitation term U2 is given as U2 = Usinwt in equation of motion. The natural
frequency of the specimen in elastic range is defined as

f n n / 2

2k x / m

. The

natural frequency within elastic limit f n changes as the length of the bead increases.
Table 1 shows relation between the length of the bead L w and the natural frequency f n
calculated using beam element model. When L w 10mm , f n becomes constant value
95Hz. f n is approximately given as:

60 3.5L w (Hz) : 0 L w 10mm

fn
95(Hz) : 10 L w 100mm

(10)

Table 3 shows ratio of residual stress with surface vibration f sy to that without surface
vibration fsi for some values of Fe / mU and fyi / Fe . Excitation frequency is 17.8kHz.
From this table, reduction rate of residual stress increases as fyi / Fe tends to be 1 that is,
residual stress before shaking approaches to yield force.
From welding experiments, it is found that tensile residual stress near the bead is
reduced when the specimen is shaken by ultrasonic surface vibration during welding. The

proposed method is examined by analytical method.

Table 1 Length of bead and natural frequency of specimen

Lw(m)
fn(Hz)

0.01
60.2

0.1
64.7

1
81.3

5
91.0

Table 2 Ratio of residual stress with and without ultrasonic surface vibration
fsi/Fe
0.9
0.8
0.7

Fe/mU
0.02 0.03
0.13 0.46
0.14 0.49
0.15 0.53

0.04
0.62
0.67
0.71

0.05
0.71
0.77
0.82

0.06
0.78
0.83
0.89

Using two-dimensional model with preloaded springs having elasto-plastic forcedeformation relation, effectiveness of the proposed method is proved.
Analytical Modeling of VSR
A cantilever beam model was developed in ANSYS, commercial finite element analysis
software, for VSR analysis. Figure 1 shows the geometry of the designed model.

Due to the symmetry design of the cantilever beam specimen, only the half of the
beam requires modeling with ANSYS. A two-dimensional model was considered because
the stress introduced across the thickness of the beam was assumed uniform.
To model plastic deformation, elastic-plastic material was employed in the
ANSYS model database.
Aluminum 6061-T6 was selected as the material for the model. The material
properties are shown in Table 1 and the stress- strain curve of the material is shown in
Figure 2.

For finite element analysis, the model was meshed with linear, four-node,
quadrilateral elements. The mesh in the fillet areas is shown in Figure 3.

To simulate the vibratory stress relief, residual stress was first introduced into the
model by applying and releasing an external force on the tip of the beam. Static nonlinear
analysis was conducted to introduce the residual stress and calculate the resulting
internal stress distribution. The relationship between the external load and tip
deflection shown in Table 2 was also obtained as information for later determining the
vibration amplitude.

The controlling parameters for the vibratory stress relief considered were existing
residual stress level, driven frequency, and excitation amplitude. These parameters were
obtained from static nonlinear, modal, and harmonic analyses.
Table 3 shows the selected excitation displacement magnitudes that would lead to
relief of residual stress based on the mechanical theory that the peak residual stress will
decrease when the summation of external cyclic and residual stresses exceed the elastic
limit of the material.

Results and Discussions

To investigate the frequency range that vibration works to relieve residual stress
in parts and the driven frequencies that maximize the relief of residual stress in parts, the
following 4 cases shown in Table 4 were run to compare the effect of resonance
frequency and sub-resonance frequency on VSR. The frequencies investigated are
illustrated in Table 5. Table 6 shows the results of residual stress reduction.

The results show that the frequency producing the greatest stress relief occurs at
the resonant peak (natural frequency). The reduction of residual stress after resonant
vibratory treatment can attain 97%. Sub-resonant VSR treatments get less or no residual
stress relief, depending on the frequency level applied. Another variable investigated for
VSR was the excitation amplitude. Case 5 was conducted and compared with case 2 to
see the effect of excitation displacement amplitude on VSR. Table 7 shows the testing
condition of case 2 and case 5. Table 8 shows the results comparison. The results show
that larger excitation amplitude will produce greater stress relief.

Initial residual stress level in parts was also investigated to see its effect on VSR.
Two cases were compared with different initial residual stress in the sample. The analysis
condition of these two cases is shown in Table 9. Table 10 shows the comparison results.

The comparison results show that the part that has less initial residual stress level
will get greater stress relief under the same excitation frequency and displacement
amplitude.
From the above analyses, the following conclusion can be drawn:
1. Finite element modeling approach can be used to predict the vibratory
treatment on residual stress relief.
2. Both resonant and sub-resonant vibrations can relieve residual stresses in parts.
Resonant VSR produces the greatest residual stress relief. Subresonant VSR can get
stress relief, whose effect depends on the driven frequency employed. The larger tip
deflection the driven frequency produces, the greater reduction of residual stresses.
3. Larger excitation amplitude produces greater residual stress relief.
4. Stress reduction is greater for parts with lower level of initial residual stresses

APPLICATIONS
Vibratory Stress Relief in manufacturing the Rails of Maglev system
To reduce the welding induced residual stress in the rails of Maglev (Magnetic
Levitation) transport system, the VSR procedure is used. Maglev trains are move at

speed more than 225kmph. To keep the Maglev train at high speed and comfortable the
manufacturing of rail is very important. Each rail is 3m long and is welded together with
StE355 steel and MSH steel using Co2 shield arc welding. The welding processes will
induce a state of residual stress that causes the distortion of the rail. In Maglev case , the
component is so large that heat treatment is not feasible due to the size of the furnace and
cost of treatment. The other disadvantage of heat treatment is growth of oxides on the
component surface. The rail is coated with aluminum coating to resist the corrosion. Heat
treatment of high temperature will inevitably destroy this coating.
VSR procedure for Maglev rails
The basic theory is that cyclic vibratory stresses added to the residual stresses
exceed the yield strength of the material and causes local plastic deformation and
substantial reduction of residual stresses. The cross-section of the rail is close to
rectangular .Four beams are welded together to form a rail.
An eccentric mass electric motor is attached to one end of the rail to produce
required vibrations at required frequency. Rigid clamps are used to integrate the motor
and the rail. A computer is used to control the running speed of the motor so the vibratory
frequency can changed. The computer records the every peak acceleration and frequency.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of VSR, the residual stresses are measured with hole
drilling method. Two rosette strain gauges are used for measurement of residual stresses.
After the procedure of the VSR, the peak of acceleration becomes higher
and resonant frequency becomes lower. The maximum principal residual stresses reduce
due to the VSR treatment and redistribution of the residual stresses along the weld bead.
The average principal residual stresses reduced by about 30%.

Demerits of VSR method

It is not economical for smaller components.
Noise in process
Changes in mechanical properties are very less.
References

 Delin Rao,Jingguo Ge,and Ligong Chen.,2004,Vibratory stress relief in

manufacturing the rails of maglev system,ASME,vol.126, pp. 388-394.
Final report by William F.Hahn,Vibratory residual stress relief and modifications
in
metals to conserve resources and prevent pollution,Alfred
University,CEER,2002.
Seiji Hirai and Shigeru Aoki ,Reduction of residuals stresses by ultrasonic
surface vibration