Determination of Residual Stresses on a Centrifugal Compressor Impeller

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This paper reports a comparison of two methods to perform residual stress measurements. The specimens tested by each method were two blades from a shrouded centrifugal compressor impeller. The first method is the conventional hole drilling strain gage method which was used to predict residual stresses across the blade surface. The residual stresses are released by drilling a hole in the blade. The second method is called the nonlinear harmonic (NLH) scanning method and is based on the principal that the magnetic domains of ferrous materials vary in a non-linear way relative to internal stress. The effects of residual stress may be either helpful or harmful, depending on the magnitude of the residual with respect to the operating stresses. If not adequately relieved by heat treatment, residual tensile stress that develops in the welding process of shrouded impellers, will add to the stress developed by rotation which moves the point to the right on the Goodman diagram and reduces allowable alternating stress. The results showed comparable residual stress measurements of the NLH method compared to the conventional hole drilling method.