Understanding of Vibration Stress Relief with Computation Modeling

A finite element model was developed to predict weld residual stress and simulate the vibratory stress relief. Both resonant and nonresonant vibration stress relief were studied to better understand the mechanism of vibration stress relief. The effect of process parameters, vibration amplitude and frequency, of vibration stress relief on weld residual stress reduction was investigated with the developed model. It was found that both resonant and nonresonant vibration stress relief can relieve weld residual stresses. For the nonresonant vibration, the stress reduction strongly depends on the vibration’s amplitude. For the resonant vibration, the vibration’s frequency is essential to stress relief. The vibration’s frequency should be close to the structure’s natural frequency for the desired vibration mode.