Natural Frequency Changes Induced by Vibratory Stress Relief in Automotive and Heavy Industry Structures

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 1st Future of Vehicles Conf., 67 - 71, 17.12.2025

Alexandra Kiri , Zoltán Weltsch

https://doi.org/10.30939/ijastech..1759118

Abstract

In this study, the natural frequency changes, induced by vibratory stress relief, were ana-lysed. Vibratory stress relief (VSR) is a possible alternative to thermal stress relief (TSR), which can be applied to welded structures and castings to reduce residual stresses. In this paper, acoustic-based natural frequency measurements will be presented to investigate the effect of VSR treatment. Natural frequency measurements were taken on large disc-type grey cast iron components, before and after the VSR treatment and we have analysed the results for five sim-ilar castings from the same batch. The natural frequencies change when the stress state of the workpiece changes. Changes in the frequencies have been examined, and we have identified a pattern for a specific treatment parameter setting. Measurement images – spectrograms - were generated to visualize the frequency response, where stress-induced variations appeared as shifts in resonance bands. Across all five tested components, a consistent decrease in dominant natural frequencies was observed. While the results mostly align with theoretical expectations, they also highlight the complex, time-dependent behaviour of residual stress redistribution. Fur-ther long-term monitoring is recommended to clarify post-treatment evolution and material-specific responses. The results can open new directions for the automotive and heavy industry to effectively reduce residual stresses and monitor the performance of the workpieces.

Keywords

Natural frequency , Vibratory stress relief , Residual stress , Casting

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