Residual stress prediction and determination in 7010 aluminum alloy forgings

Precipitation-hardened aluminum alloys gain their high strength through heat treatment involving a severe quenching operation, which can have the adverse effect of introducing residual stresses. The finite element code ABAQUS is used to simulate the quenching of aluminum alloy 7010 in an attempt to predict the residual stress distribution that develops in simple shapes. The rate of heat transfer from the material is determined using the finite element method to predict the heat transfer coefficient from surface cooling curves achieved experimentally. The flow stress of the material is assumed to be strain rate dependent and to behave in a perfectly plastic manner. The predicted residual stress magnitudes and directions are compared to values determined using the hole-drilling strain gage method and the X-ray diffraction technique.