Generalized coefficients for measuring mechanical stresses in carbon and low-alloyed steels by the acoustoelasticity method

It is shown that the microscopic material structure significantly affects the results of measuring mechanical stresses by the acoustoelasticity method. It is noted that the nonequiaxedness of the grain metal structure in steel flats leads to both the emergence of intrinsic acoustic anisotropy and the anisotropy of elastoacoustic coupling coefficients (EACC). Results of the research into connection between EACC and intrinsic acoustic anisotropy are presented for carbon and low-alloyed steels. The possibility of using generalized EACC values for determining mechanical stresses in high–acoustic-anisotropy materials of this class is substantiated. The results have made it possible to develop a mechanical-stress measurement technique that allows one to take measurements without running calibration tests on representative specimens of the test object.