Non-equibiaxial residual stress evaluation methodology using simulated indentation behavior and machine learning

Measuring the residual stress in the components in nuclear power plants is crucial to their safety evaluation. The instrumented indentation technique is a minimally invasive approach that can be conveniently used to determine the residual stress in structural materials in service. Because the indentation behavior of a structure with residual stresses is closely related to the elastic-plastic behavior of the indented material, an accurate understanding of the elastic-plastic behavior of the material is essential for evaluation of the residual stresses in the structures. However, due to the analytical problems associated with solving the elastic-plastic behavior, empirical equations with limited applicability have been used. In the present study, the impact of the non-equibiaxial residual stress state on indentation behavior was investigated using finite element analysis. In addition, a new nonequibiaxial residual-stress prediction methodology is proposed using a convolutional neural network, and the performance was validated. A more accurate residual-stress measurement will be possible by applying the proposed residual-stress prediction methodology in the future.