Cold compression residual stress reduction in aluminum alloy 7010

7010 is one of the high strength aluminium alloys used mainly as plate and forgings in the aerospace industry. Its high strength is achieved through a quenching operation where the material is rapidly cooled from the solution heat treatment temperature (475°C) to room temperature. As with all rapid quenching operations, residual stresses develop, leaving the material unsuitable for further machining operations and for service. Regular shaped forgings are generally cold compressed after quenching to relieve residual stresses. The effect of friction, increasing/decreasing the amount of cold compression and applying cold compression in ‘bites’ on residual stress magnitudes is unknown. This paper aims to study the effect that these variables have on final residual stress patterns through use of a finite element model.