Residual stresses often remain in engineering components as a result of manufacturing processes such as welding and forging. Knowledge of the residual stress state is therefore an essential ingredient in the integrity assessment of any component. We use a range of techniques including X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction and Incremental Centre Hole Drilling (ICHD) to study residual stress.

Measuring residual stresses in large components has been one of our key long-term projects over recent years. The group has pioneered the development of a novel technique known as Deep Hole Drilling (DHD) which allows measurement of residual stresses to depths beyond 450mm in steels. Research is being actively undertaken to explore the use of this method in composite materials and integrate it with surface measurement methods.