Method and apparatus for measuring residual stresses in a component

An apparatus for measurement of residual through-thickness stresses in a workpiece comprising:

• a first clamp configured to clamp said workpiece at a first position;
• a second clamp spaced from the first clamp and configured to clamp said workpiece at a second position;
• a machine tool configured to perform a material removal operation on said workpiece held by the clamps, at a third position between said first and second clamps;
• a deflection measurement apparatus configured to measure deflection of said workpiece at a location between the first and second clamps;
• and
• based upon said measured deflection, computing the residual through-thickness stress.

A method of measuring through-thickness residual stresses in a workpiece comprising the steps of:

• clamping the workpiece at a first position and a second position, spaced from the first position;
• performing a first material removal operation at a third location intermediate the first and second locations;
• releasing the workpiece at the second position;
• measuring a first deformation of the workpiece;
• and
• determining residual stresses in the workpiece from the first deformation, wherein the step of determining the residual stresses comprises the step of calculating a maximum deformation of the workpiece at a position other than the measurement position.

An apparatus for measurement of residual through-thickness stresses in a metallic workpiece comprising:

• a first clamp;
• a second clamp spaced from the first clamp;
• a machine tool configured to perform a material removal operation on a workpiece held by the clamps, at a position between the clamps;
• and
• a deflection measurement apparatus positioned between the first and second clamps, wherein the deflection measurement apparatus is positioned at the same position between the clamps as the machine tool.