The incremental contour method using asymmetric stiffness cuts

An incremental Contour Method (iCM) of residual stress measurement is proposed where residual stresses in the body of interest are sequentially reduced by successive contour cuts and the risk of stress re-distribution plasticity is mitigated or eliminated. The cutting-induced plasticity is known to cause significant inaccuracies when trying to measure the near-yield residual stresses using a conventional single cut contour method. The iCM procedure implements a new displacement data processing approach for the general case of sectioning at an arbitrary plane where the cut parts do not possess mirror-symmetric elastic stiffness. The basis for the new asymmetric stiffness data analysis approach is presented and the accuracy of the new method demonstrated using both numerical and experimental case studies.