Controlled Residual Stress
While uncontrolled residual stresses are undesirable, some designs rely on them. For example, toughened glass and pre-stressed concrete depend on residual stress to prevent brittle failure. A demonstration of the effect is shown by Prince Rupert's Drop, where a molten glass globule is quenched to produce a toughened outer layer.
Bolted joints use residual stress to avoid subjecting bolts to fatigue. A gradient in martensite formation leaves residual stress in some swords with particularly hard edges (notably the katana), which can prevent the opening of edge cracks.
In certain types of gun barrels made with two tubes forced together, the inner tube is compressed while the outer tube stretches, preventing cracks from opening in the rifling when the gun is fired. Parts are often heated or dropped into liquid nitrogen to aid assembly...
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Famous quotes containing the words controlled, residual and/or stress:
“You enter a state of controlled passivity, you relax your grip and accept that even if your declared intention is to justify the ways of God to man, you might end up interesting your readers rather more in Satan.”
—Ian McEwan (b. 1938)
“The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement. Their truth is instantly translated; its literal monument alone remains.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the stress of modern life, how little room is left for that most comfortable vanity that whispers in our ears that failures are not faults! Now we are taught from infancy that we must rise or fall upon our own merits; that vigilance wins success, and incapacity means ruin.”
—Agnes Repplier (1858–1950)