Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

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Materials and Design

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Inuence of ultrasonic stress relief on stainless steel 316 specimens:

A comparison with thermal stress relief
M. Shalvandi a, Y. Hojjat a,, A. Abdullah b, H. Asadi c
a

Mechanical Eng. Dep., Tech and Eng. Faculty, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
Mechanical Eng. Dep., Amir Kabir University of Technology, Iran
c
Material Eng. Dep., Tech and Eng. Faculty, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 15 September 2012
Accepted 10 November 2012
Available online 29 November 2012
Keywords:
Ultrasonic stress relief
Vibration amplitude
Acoustic softening
Thermal stress relief

a b s t r a c t
In conventional stress relieving by vibration, the residual stress reduces by induction of low frequency,
high amplitude dynamic stress into an object. This method is conned to large pieces since the high
amplitude of vibration deforms the thin or small objects. In this paper, a new stress relieving method
based on ultrasonic vibrations is introduced which is applicable on the small or thin parts. The effectiveness of the method was veried by comparing it with thermal stress reliving. The stainless steel 316 was
selected for residual stress reduction. The effects of ultrasonic vibration amplitude, relief time and preload parameters are evaluated. Acoustic softening of the metal is also evaluated since this phenomenon
and dislocation activation by means of the acoustic waves are the main mechanisms behind this process.
Experiments show that the residual stress of the small Almen strips can be reduced about 40% by thermal
stress relief, while the ultrasonic stress relief is about 36%. It means the amount of stress reduction by
ultrasonic method is comparable with thermal stress relieving. Statistical analyses of the experimental
results show that the amount of stress reduction is directly proportional to the vibration amplitude
and the stress relief time. The vibration frequency and the amplitude of the experiments were
24,500 Hz and 2346 lm, respectively. Acoustic softening results showed that the tensile strength of
the metal strongly decreases by superimposing of ultrasonic vibration in universal tensile test. The
amount of this reduction is proportional to the ultrasonic intensity. Metallographic tests showed that
there are no changes in grain size during the ultrasonic stress relieving process, and the only effect
may be the dislocations movement.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Tensile and compressive residual stress can be induced by
mechanical operations such as welding, casting, rolling and shot
peening. Residual stresses may shorten the life of the part by
increasing the fatigue crack growth rate [1,2]. To maintain the expected lifetime, the residual stresses must be eliminated as much
as possible. Vibratory stress relief at resonant frequencies is a
well-known technology for reduction of the residual stresses
caused by welding or other manufacturing processes. The vibratory
stress relief in resonant frequencies was introduced by McGoldrick
and Saunders [3]. They applied mechanical vibrations with the frequency of 1030 Hz and amplitude 0.3750.4 in. to a ship structure. They claimed the possibility of applying mechanical
vibration to the structures but the measurement of the residual
stresses was not reported. The most related work was done by
Wozney and Crawmer [4]. They used shot-peened Almen strip
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 82883364; fax: +98 21 82883364.
E-mail address: yhojjat@modares.ac.ir (Y. Hojjat).
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2012.11.023

(A-type) in stress relieving experiments and applied cyclic loads

to decrease the residual stress. Their outstanding result was 33%
reduction in the residual stress. They mentioned that the yielding
characteristics of Almen material will change during the application of cyclic loads. They also showed that one can predict the
residual stress reduction knowing the initial residual stress and
the applied cyclic stress. Weiss et al. [5] relieved the residual stress
of a submerged arc welded low carbon steel specimen. The specimens were vibrated by a laboratory shaker, and the residual stresses were measured by a destructive method called Sachs boringout technique. Dawson and Moffat [6] draw out the effective variables of vibratory stress relief in 1980. They reported that various
resonance frequencies (such as 33, 66, and 92 Hz) can be used for
vibratory stress relieving. They claimed that the increase in applied
cyclic strain amplitude enhances the residual stress reduction. Lud
and Hwang [7] evaluated the effectiveness of the vibratory stress
relief by modied hole-drilling method and showed that the rst
three resonant frequencies reduce the residual stress in the welding specimen. Zhuang and Halford [8] proposed an analytical model for estimation of residual stress relaxation, and showed that

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

application of the cyclic load could lead to relaxation of residual

compressive stress in shot peened specimens. Sun et al. [9] relieved
the residual stress of marine steel shaft using a 46.4 Hz vibration
and an X-ray stress meter. They achieved a 48% reduction in macro
residual stress of the steel bar.
Concurrent ultrasonic stress reliving was introduced by Hirai
and Aoki [10]. They applied the vibration during the welding process of thin plates and measured the amount of residual stress by
X-ray stress meter. Liqun and Qijia [11] reduced the internal stress
in small MEMS coated wafer made of SU-8 photoresist by utilization of the ultrasonic vibrations. The coated wafer bends under
the effect of internal residual stress in the layer. The frequency
and amplitude of the ultrasonic vibration was 20 kHz and 15
20 lm, respectively. Same authors optimized the ultrasonic stress
relief parameters used in their previous publication based on the
fuzzy neural network in 2010 and 2011 [12,13]. Stress relief rates
can be changed from 27.8% to 59.5% by changing the effective
parameters. There are a lot of investigations on the effectiveness
of conventional (low frequency) vibratory stress relief process,
while stress relieving by ultrasonic has not been reported on
metallic parts.
In this research, the application of high power ultrasonic vibrations for stress reliving of metallic parts is introduced. The effective
parameters are studied and the result is veried by experiments on
shot peened Almen strips. The effectiveness of the process is estimated by comparing the residual stresses before and after the operation. The efciency of this process is also compared with thermal
stress relieving method. The method is applicable for almost all
the thermal or mechanical residual stresses exist in thin sheets or
small pieces, such as the welded plates in the aircraft wing.
2. Mechanism of the ultrasonic stress relieving
The acoustic coupling between the transducer and the specimen plays an important role in transferring the vibration into the
specimen. Fig. 1 shows the schematic mechanism of the ultrasonic
stress relief device designed for this research. It is generally consisted of a high frequency power supply capable of providing
high-power electric pulses, an ultrasonic transducer including piezoelectric, matching and backing parts, a horn made of highstrength aircraft aluminum, and a special die for imposing the
vibration on the work piece. Piezoelectric transfers a standing
wave into the matching part. A special horn is designed to transfer
the adjusted wave into the specimen. Ultrasonic vibration eases
the movement of the internal dislocations, and reliefs the residual
stress by acoustic softening.

3. Experimental steps
3.1. Preparatory works for experimental samples
Three types of Almen strip with the same length and width but
different thicknesses are selected. They are called N, A, and C types
with a thickness of 0.772, 1.283 and 2.372 mm, respectively. Fig. 2
shows dimensional tolerances and rolling direction of Almen strips
[14,15].
Almen strips were waterjet cut from a stainless steel sheet with
a thickness of 1.3 mm and sized by milling. Table 1 shows the composition and mechanical properties of the sheet [ASTM A193/
A193M-12b].
To remove the initial curvature of Almen specimen and fulll
the required straightness and atness mentioned in ASM Standard,
heat stress relieving was performed. Before heat treatment, the
strips were xed inside the die and fastened by four standard
screws using a manual torquemeter in order to apply equal torque
to all of the screws. According to the ASM handbook [16], the furnace heating rate was 5 C/min, holding temperature 900 C, and
cooling rate 1 C/min [17]. The furnace was purged and lled with
Argon inert gas to prevent the oxidation of strips. Fig. 3 shows the
relation between the heat treating temperature and stress relieving
rate.
3.2. Shot peening process
Shot peening of specimens was carried out by Reymehr Co., machine, according to the standard instructions [14]. The air pressure
was 8 MPa, nozzle distance to the strip was set at 100 mm, angle of
impact was set to be 83, nozzle diameter was 5 mm and the average measured shot diameter was 0.45 mm. Fig. 4a shows the prepared setup on the shot peening machine. The achieved Almen
arc height is shown in Fig. 4b. For measuring the Almen arc height,
Almen gage was made with respect to the shot peening standard
(Fig. 4c).
3.3. Ultrasonic stress relieving
After shot peening of the specimens and measuring the obtained Almen arc height, ultrasonic stress relief operation was performed on the specimens. High power MPI Ultrasonic generator
was used to create vibration in the transducer. The resonant frequency of the transducer was about 24,500 Hz. Hence modal analyses were carried out by ANSYS, and a horn with the same resonant
frequency of the transducer was designed for this purpose which

Fig. 1. Ultrasonic stress relief mechanism.

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

without clamping. Thermal stress relieving conditions were the

same as before (see Section 3.1).
4. Residual stress in Almen strips
To develop the mathematical explanation of deection, the simple beam theory is used (Fig. 9a). The basic formula for the following loading at any point (x) along a beam is [18,19]:

M r E

I
c R

Fig. 2. Dimension of a type Almen strip [14,15].

was made up of Al7075-T6. Ultrasonic vibrations transferred to the

specimens via the horn. The effect of vibration amplitude, relief
time and pre-load force were investigated. Relieving time was 2,
5 and 8 min and vibration amplitude 23, 34.5 and 46 lm. Fig. 5
shows the experimental setup of ultrasonic stress relief operation.
3.4. Acoustic softening evaluation
Acoustic softening is a phenomenon that occurs during the
ultrasonic stress relieving, and extremely decreases the yield and
ultimate tensile stresses of the metal. An experimental setup was
prepared to experimentally investigate the phenomenon. The tensile specimen was designed using ANSYS modal solution, applying
3D solid95 element. Natural frequencies of 1530 kHz were obtained. The length of altering specimen was determined for natural
frequency of 20 kHz.
Points 2 and 4 in Fig. 6 are the vibration nodes, and points 1, 3
and 5 are the vibration anti-nodes. As the cross section areas are
different, the vibration amplitude at point 3 is greater than the
one at point 1.
Am3
Am1

AA13
1

A1 5:76  A3
Am3 5:76  Am1

where A is the cross section area of the sample and Am the vibration
amplitude at specied points. Fig. 7 shows the sample which is designed according to ANSYS output, and the standard tension test
dimensions [based on ASTM E8/E8M-11]. To prevent the vibration
of other components, the sample is xed at vibration anti-nodes
(points 2 and 4).
To study the acoustic softening effect, a high power ultrasonic
transducer was connected directly to the tensile sample and vibrated it with approximate power amplitude of 300 and 600 W
during the tensile test (Fig. 8).
Measurements with Eddy current sensor showed that the vibration amplitude at point 1 with 300 and 600 W is equal to 4 and
8 lm, respectively. Thus, according to the Eq. (1), the vibration
amplitude at the point 3 is equal to 23 and 46 lm, respectively.
3.5. Thermal stress relieving process

where M is the bending moment at x, I the moment of inertia of the

beam which is equal to:
3

bt
12

where b and t are the length and width of the rectangle cross section, respectively. Neutral axis is parallel to the length of the rectangle and c is the distance from the neutral axis. In symmetrical
sections this is the distance from the midpoint or center of gravity
of the section. E is the Youngs modulus. R is the radius of curvature
of the beam when it bends under load. The stress in a simple beam
can be calculated as:

Mc
I

For a rectangular beam the greatest stress is at the surface:

t
;
2

rmax

6M
bt

Although the distribution of residual stress through the thickness is unlikely linear, it is assumed to be linear. As the sheet is
shtailed or cut in a central planar direction or shot peened, the
bending moment created by the residual stress will released
(Fig. 9c). The bending moment may be expressed as:

EI
R

The maximum longitudinal stress at the surface is obtained by

substituting Eqs. (3), (6) and c = t/4 in Eq. (5):

rmax

Et
4R

If the deection (d) is small compared to the radius of curvature

(R), R may be expressed in terms of the deection (d) and the
length of the curved surface (L), by:

L2
2d

Eq. (8) is derived from Fig. 10, where isosceles triangles RLK and
mdn are similar, and therefore R/L = m/d or R = Lm/d. For small angles, L is equal to the arc 12 and m is about half of arc 12 (Fig. 9c).
Substituting Eq (8) in Eq. (7) gives:

Three specimens were chosen to be stress relieved with the

thermal process. The specimens were heat treated in the furnace
Table 1
Mechanical properties and chemical composition of stainless steel 316 [ASTM A193/A193M-12b].
Chemical composition
Material number
Symbol
Trade name
Element (wt.%)
Mechanical properties
Yield strength (Min MPa)
290

1.4401
X5CrNiMo17122
Stainless steel 316
C
Cr
Max 0.08
Max 18

Mn
Max 2.0

Tensile strength (Min MPa)

580

Density (kg/m3)
800

Ni
Max 14

P
Max 0.045

Si
Max 1.0

S
Max 0.03

Fe
61.872.0

Hardness (RB)
79

Elongation in 2 in or 50 mm (Min %)
50

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

ble 2 shows the results of shot peening tests and the amount of
residual stress.
5.2. Thermal stress relief results

Fig. 3. The effect of duration and temperature on thermal stress relief, according to
ASM [17].

rres

Etd

Experimental results showed that residual stress of Almen strips

can be removed considerably by thermal stress relief process
(Fig. 11). In this gure, the black columns show the initial residual
stresses caused by shot peening, and the white columns show the
residual stresses after thermal stress relieving. According to this
data, the average reduction of residual stress by the thermal process
is approximately 40%. As a result, a large amount of stress-reduction happens when the initial residual stress is relatively high.

2L2

5.3. Ultrasonic stress relief results

The residual stress as a function of d0 becomes:

rres

2Etd0
L

10

where d0 is the Almen curvature and is measured by an accurate Almen gage at the middle of the Almen strip.
5. Results and discussion

5.3.1. Overall effects of ultrasonic stress relieving

Fig. 12 shows the residual stress in 13 samples before and after
ultrasonic stress relieving. Difference between initial values of
residual stress in specimens is the consequence of difference in
shot peening processes. Based on these data the average stress
reduction rate is about 36%. The amount of stress relieving by
ultrasonic is not as much as thermal treatment, but it can be used
for large components that could not go under thermal process.

5.1. Shot peening results

After shot peening process, Almen arc was measured by Almen
gage and residual stress of the strips was calculated by Eq. (10). Ta-

5.3.2. Effect of vibration amplitude

According to experimental results, when the ultrasonic amplitude increases from 23 to 46 lm, the amount of stress reduction

Fig. 4. Almen test procedure. (a) Shot peening of Almen strip, (b) Alemn arc height and (c) Almen gage.

Fig. 5. Experimental setup of ultrasonic stress relief treatment.

M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

717

Fig. 6. Modal simulation of tension specimen designed for acoustic softening evaluation.

increases respectively (Fig. 13). When the ultrasonic amplitude is

46 lm, Almen residual stresses decrease from 237 to 120 MPa.
Thus, the vibration amplitude has a positive effect on stress reduction rate.

Local heating is one of the mechanisms that can be used for

explanation of how acoustic stress relief works. By increasing the
relief time, there would be enough time to heat the localized zones
in the grain boundaries.

5.3.3. Effect of stress relieving time

According to experimental results, when the relief time increases from 2 to 8 min, the residual stresses decrease from 185
to 105 MPa (Fig. 14).
It may be concluded from Fig. 14 that the stress reduction rate
increases by increasing the relief time, but it is true for a short
duration, according to other investigation results [11], after a long
relief time such as 20 min, it may decrease.

5.3.4. Effect of pre-load

Fig. 15 shows the variation of stress reduction rate as a function
of preload. Pre-loading force varies from 3.2 kN to the 8 kN by
steps of 1.6 kN. The residual stress decreases 20 and 58 MPa by
applying 3.2 kN and 8 kN pre-load respectively.
For comparing the effectiveness of parameters and nding the
effectiveness of the parameters statistically, one-way ANOVA analysis was performed. As shown in Table 3, vibration amplitude has

Fig. 7. Tension specimen dimension and ultrasonic vibration amplitude [based on ASTM E8/E8M-11].

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

Fig. 8. Experimental setup for acoustic softening evaluation.

Fig. 9. Schematic of (a) simple beam theory, (b) distribution of longitudinal residual stress and (c) compressive and tensional residual stress at the surface of specimen [19].

5.4. Acoustic softening evaluation

Acoustic softening experiments were performed at two levels of
ultrasonic intensity; 300 W and 600 W. Tensile testing was started
with superimposing ultrasonic vibration, and then the stress
strain curve was plotted.
According to Fig. 16, yield stress of the metal is 263 MPa and the
ultimate tensile strength is 543 MPa, by applying 300 W ultrasonic
vibration, the yield point and tensile strength decrease to 178 MPa,
and 388 MPa, respectively. Using a 600 W ultrasonic vibration, the
yield and tensile strength decrease to 146 and 305 MPa, respectively. These results show that superimposing of ultrasonic vibration on tensile testing has softening effects, and decrease the
shear stress of the material.
For investigation of ultrasonic effects on the plastic behavior of
the metal, the ultrasonic generator switched on and off during the
tensile test. Fig. 17 shows the results of experiments. When ultrasonic generator switched on, the required stress for the same strain
decreased immediately. This sharp reduction is considered to be
the consequence of acoustic softening. When the ultrasonic generator is switched off again, tensile stress returns to the value a little
bit higher than its original value; this increase is assigned as acoustic hardening.

Fig. 10. Schematic representation of the deection formula derivation [19].

the maximum standardized beta coefcient (0.143) hence the most

effective parameter is vibration amplitude. Standardized beta coefcient value for stress relief time is 0.083, so the effect of relief
time on stress reduction rate is less than vibration amplitude. Finally, the least effective parameter is the pre-loading force.

5.5. Metallography of specimens

To study the effect of the ultrasonic stress relief process on grain
boundaries, metallographies of the Almen specimens were performed before and after the ultrasonic process. To reduce the effects of cutting process on the metallurgical properties of
specimens, ne electro-discharge wire cutting process was used
to cut the specimens, and then specimens mounting were done

M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

Table 2
Almen arc results and obtained residual stress of Almen strips.
Sample no.
Almen arc (mm)
Residual stress (MPa)
Sample no.
Almen arc (mm)
Residual stress (MPa)

SS1
0.246
109.40
SS8
0.195
86.72

SS2
0.415
184.56
SS9
0.250
111.18

SS3
0.273
121.40
SS10
0.41
182.33

SS4
0.420
186.78
SS11
0.396
176.10

SS5
0.435
193.45
SS12
0.22
97.83

SS6
SS7
0.535 0.315
237.92 140.08
SS13
0.234
104.06

according to the ASM directions [20]. After mounting the specimens, mechanical grinding and polishing processes were used to
prepare the samples. Etching process was carried out with
(50 mL HCl, 10 g CuSO4, and 50 mL H2O). Specimens were etched
with this etchant for 45 s then metallography photos were taken
and analyzed. Figs. 18 and 19 show the microstructure of austenitic
stainless steel 316 before and after ultrasonic stress relieving,
respectively.
The austenitic base stainless steel grain boundaries are clear in
Fig. 18. Fig. 19 shows no considerable changes in the grain size of
the specimen. It may be resulted that the stress relieving process
has not changed the grain size.
To explain the stress relief mechanism, it is necessary to study
the special effects of high power ultrasonic treatment. This treat-

719

ment has three major effects on the specimens, namely acoustic

softening, acoustic hardening and stress reduction. There is a lot
of work on the plastic framework of the acoustic softening that explains the mechanism of ultrasonic effects. Applying high power
ultrasonic vibrations to tensile samples during a constant strain
test reduced the tensile strength and yield stress of the metal
immediately [21,22]. The percentage of this stress reduction is proportional to the ultrasonic intensity imposed to the specimen during the tensile test and is independent of vibration frequency over
the range of 15 Hz1.5 MHz [21]. Vibration amplitude inuences
on the tensile properties of the metal too [23].
The effects of ultrasonic vibration on the tensile properties of
materials are presented by crystal plasticity theory. In this theory,
dislocation ow on a slip system of metal is presented in a continuum sense as c (plastic shear strain). In a special slip system, a, the
plastic strain rate is given by [24]:

 m

sa 
c_ a ca0 sgnsa  a 
g

11

where ca0 is the reference strain rate, m is the rate sensitivity exponent (material properties) and ga is the strength of a slip system.
Ultrasonic process causes some internal changes in the material
that leads to decrease the tensile strength so the plastic strain rate
increases. When applying the high power ultrasonic, ga is smaller.

Fig. 11. Thermal stress relieving results.

Fig. 12. The amount of Almen strip residual stresses before and after ultrasonic stress relief process.

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

Fig. 13. The effect of ultrasonic amplitude on stress reduction rate (stress relief time: 5 min and pre-load: 4.8 kN).

Hence the modied formula for plastic slip with acoustic softening
is given by

hardening, and it is independent of ultrasonic frequency and is directly proportional to the applied ultrasonic intensity (IU).

 a m
 s 

c_ a ca0 sgnsa  a


5.6. Acoustic movement of dislocations

g  Us

12

where US is a coefcient showing the effect of the ultrasonic softening and its value is less than 1. According to the other investigations,
ultrasonic energy is absorbed in some regions such as grain boundaries, dislocations and voids. It means that by increasing the ultrasonic intensity, US, is getting close to zero, and c_ a increases
extremely.
Eq. (12) explains the effect of ultrasonic in plastic range. Some
investigations show that the ultrasonic effect takes place just in
plastic range [25], while the others claim in both elastic and plastic
rang [22]. This research shows that the ultrasonic softening effects
take place in both elastic and plastic range which realizes the ultrasonic stress relieving. The prospect is that, when the ultrasonic
vibrations are removed, the tensile strength returns to its initial value, but this does not happen and tensile strength reaches a value
higher than its initial value. Acoustic hardening is similar to work

From dislocation theory, the shear stress that is needed to cause

a plastic ow is the stress required for dislocation movement.
Ultrasonic treatment decreases the amount of shear stress. If the
shear stress decreases to zero, then da = s, where da is the stress
produced by ultrasonic waves when passing through a solid metal.
da can be determined by Eq. (13) [22]:

da qmc

r
2IU E

13

where q is the density of material, c the velocity of sound, m the

metal particle displacement and IU the ultrasonic intensity. Dislocations absorb the acoustic stress and move easily. There are three
mechanisms of ultrasonic energy absorption in dislocation; resonance, relaxation and hysteresis [23]. The natural frequency of
oscillation of dislocation is about 108 Hz, so the ultrasonic vibra-

Fig. 14. The effect of stress relief time on stress reduction rate (vibration amplitude: 6 lm and pre-load: 4.8 kN).

M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

721

Fig. 15. The inuence of pre-loading force on stress reduction rate (vibration amplitude: 6 lm and relief time: 5 min).

6. Conclusion
Table 3
Coefcients of ANOVA analyses.
Model

Unstandardized
coefcients

Standardized Coefcients t

Std. error

Beta

30.509
2.882
3.858
2.572

.028
.143
.083

1 (constant)
24.818
Preload
.202
Vibration amplitude 1.375
Relief time
.533

.813
.070
.356
.207

tion at the frequency of 20 kHz cannot have a visible effect on the

resonance mechanism. According to the other investigations
[22,23] relaxation and hysteresis cannot be suitable mechanisms
for the ultrasonic energy absorption in the dislocations. It seems
that local heating theory can describe the acoustic softening. It is
suggested that since dislocations absorb the ultrasonic energy, local heating occurs in the circumference of the dislocations when
ultrasonic stress waves efuence through the specimen. This
heated area of the dislocations is the weak points in the metal
and need the least shear stress to move around and to cause plastic
slip. This research investigated this mechanism by applying two
amounts of intensity; IU = 42 W/cm2 and IU = 84 W/cm2.

In this paper, the high power ultrasonic stress relieving method

is introduced and studied for thin metallic strips. It is shown that
up to 36% reduction in the residual stress is possible. Vibration
amplitude, process time and pre-load are the main parameters
which have signicant inuence on the ultrasonic stress relief rate.
It is shown that, the vibration amplitude is directly proportional to
the stress reduction rate and has the most signicant effect on it.
Maximum relief happens at the highest amplitude. In this research,
the highest amplitude was about 46 lm and residual stresses of Almen strip dropped from 237 to 120 MPa. Process time has also a
direct effect on the residual stress reduction. When process time
is 2 min, the residual stresses decrease by 34 MPa, while when
the process time increase to 8 min the residual stresses decrease
approximately 75 MPa.
Pre-loading force has a little effect on the stress reduction.
When it increased from 3.2 to 8 kN, the stress relief increased from
20 to 58 MPa. Statistical analyses by using of SPSS showed that the
vibration amplitude has the highest effect and the pre-load has the
least effect on stress reduction. Metallography tests did not show
any change in the size of grains, due to ultrasonic stress relieving.
Therefore, the local heating in the grain boundaries might be the
main mechanism of stress relieving.

Fig. 16. Strainstress curves of typical tensile specimen with and without ultrasonic vibration.

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M. Shalvandi et al. / Materials and Design 46 (2013) 713723

Fig. 17. Strainstress curves of typical tensile specimen with and without ultrasonic vibration.

The results of acoustic softening showed that ultrasonic intensity directly affects the material characteristics. Applying ultrasonic vibration with 300 W (IU = 42W/cm2), decreases the yield
strength from 263 to 178 MPa and reduces the tensile strength
from 543 to 388.3 MPa. Applying ultrasonic vibration with 600 W
(IU = 84W/cm2), causes the sharp drop of yield strength and tensile
strength from 263 to 146.4 MPa and from 543 to 304.4 MPa,
respectively. These results prove that by increasing the ultrasonic
intensity from 42 to 84 W/cm2, ultrasonic softening coefcient decreases sharply, weakens the slip strength between the grains, and
causes the material to be softened.
In the tensile test, when the ultrasonic generator switches off,
the stress goes slightly higher than the initial value (without ultrasonic), this effect is acoustic hardening, and the amount of this
increment depends on ultrasonic intensity (IU) applied during the
tensile testing.

Fig. 18. Light micrograph of austenitic stainless steel 316 before ultrasonic stress
relieving (500X).

Fig. 19. Light micrograph of austenitic stainless steel 316 after ultrasonic stress
relieving (500X).

Thermal treatment showed 40%reduction in the residual stress,

while the reduction achieved by ultrasonic was 36%. Therefore, the
new method is comparable with thermal treatment, and could be
used in the cases that thermal stress relief has limitations.

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