The cold expansion process is widely used in industry in order to introduce compressive residual stresses around fastener holes, up to 2 mm beneath the surface. These compressive residual stresses are beneficial since they will prevent crack initiation from the surface and decrease subsequent crack growth rates. However, residual stress relaxation may occur due to the thermomechanical loading of the area. This study aims to investigate residual stress relaxation under thermo-mecanical cyclic loads.
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