Saturation behavior and full-field reconstruction of residual stress in quenched AISI 304 stainless steel via the contour method

Residual stresses induced by quenching play a critical role in determining the structural integrity and service performance of engineering components. This study investigates the residual-stress distributions in 304 austenitic stainless subjected to quenching using the contour method. By integrating high-resolution surface deformation measurements with finite element-based inverse analysis, full-field residual-stress profiles were reconstructed across both transverse and longitudinal sections. A comparative analysis was conducted under water and oil quenching conditions at different temperatures to examine the effects of cooling media and thermal parameters. The results reveal that water quenching generates higher stress magnitudes and steeper stress gradients compared to oil quenching, due to its faster cooling rate. Additionally, once the quenching temperature exceeds 700 °C, the residual-stress distributions exhibit limited sensitivity to further increases in temperature. These findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of thermal stress formation in non-transforming steels and offer practical guidance for tailoring residual-stress distributions to enhance the structural performance of quenched components.