Measuring residual stress in finite thickness plates using the hole-drilling method

Hole-drilling is one of the most popular methods for measuring residual stress in mechanical components. The ASTM E837 standard defines the hole-drilling method for plates that are either thicker or thinner than the size of the hole diameter and provides the related calibration coefficients for these two conditions. Measurements for components with a thickness in the range of a few millimetres, such as typical metal sheets, are not considered. In this article, the effects of thickness on the hole-drilling measurements are examined by a finite element parametric analysis. A method is proposed to analyse the measurements in plates with an intermediate thickness. The procedure is suitable for determining a general in-depth non-uniform residual stress distribution. Mathematical relationships are proposed which enable calibration coefficients to be obtained for any thickness. An experimental application confirms the validity of the procedure.