Statistical analysis of the reproducibility of residual stress measurements in cold extruded parts

Cold extruded components are characterized by residual stresses, which originate from the experienced manufacturing process. For industrial applications, reproducibility and homogeneity of the final components are key aspects for an optimized quality control. Although striving to obtain identical deformation and surface conditions, fluctuation in the manufacturing parameters and contact shear conditions during the forming process may lead to variations of the spatial residual stress distribution in the final product. This could lead to a dependency of the residual stress measurement results on the relative axial and circumferential position on the sample. An attempt to examine this problem is made by the employment of design of experiments (DoE) methods. A statistical analysis of the residual stress results generated through X-Ray diffraction is performed. Additionally, the ability of cold extrusion processes to generate uniform stress states is analyzed on specimens of austenitic stainless steel 1.4404 and possible correlations with the pre-deformed condition are statistically examined. Moreover, the influence of the coating, consisting of oxalate and a MoS₂ based lubricant, on the X-Ray diffraction measurements of the surface is investigated.