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The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical framework for predicting the residual stresses that result from the laser shock peening of a friction stir‐welded 2195 aluminum alloy sample, using the finite element software LS‐DYNA.

The pressures resulting from the laser peening are directly applied in an explicit transient analysis as forces. At the completion of the transient analysis, an implicit springback analysis is performed to determine the final residual stresses. This cycle is repeated for the appropriate number of peen applications, including the appropriate overlap of application areas. To validate the analytical framework, a comparison of residual stresses between analysis and a test specimen is made using laser‐peened base material which was not friction stir‐welded. Friction stir welding (FSW) causes residual stresses and material property variations. In this work, the varying material properties regions are simplified and defined as discrete, separate materials. The residual stresses resulting from the welding are introduced directly as initial conditions in the peening transient analysis and so are combined within the analysis with the residual stresses from the peening.

Comparisons made between the experimental and analytical residual stresses are generally favorable.

Analysis of the laser shock peening of FSW has not been accomplished previously.

Discusses the use of a corporate Internet in a geographically‐spread consulting firm, James Martin & Co., to share ideas, vision, client information and results. Illustrates with examples. Applications include a quarterly Employee Attitude Survey and regular discussion forums. Proposes that a well‐designed corporate intranet is a highly effective method of making intangible vision and mission pledges more tangible.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fatigue and failure of commercial vehicle serial stress-peened leaf springs, emphasizing the technological impact of the material, the thermal treatment and the stress-peening process on the microstructure, the mechanical properties and the fatigue life. Theoretical fatigue analysis determines the influence of each individual technological parameter. Design engineers can assess the effectiveness of each manufacturing process step qualitatively and quantitatively, and derive conclusions regarding its improvement in terms of mechanical properties and fatigue life.

Two different batches of 51CrV4 were examined to account for potential batch influences. Both specimen batches were subjected to the same heat treatment and stress-peening process. Investigations of their microstructure, hardness and residual stress state on the surface’ areas show the effect of the manufacturing process on the mechanical properties. Wöhler curves have been experimentally determined for the design of high-performance leaf springs. Theoretical fatigue analyses reveal the influence of every above mentioned technological factor on the fatigue life of the specimens. Therewith, the effectiveness and potential for further improvement of the manufacturing process steps are assessed.

Microstructural analysis and hardness measurements quantify the decarburization and the degradation of the specimens’ surface properties. The stress-peening process causes significant compressive residual stresses which improve the fatigue life. On the other hand, it also leads to pronounced surface roughness, which reduces the fatigue life. The theoretical fatigue life analysis assesses the mutual effect of these two parameters. Both parameters cancel each other out in regards to the final effect on fatigue life. The sensitivity of the material and the potential for further improvement of both heat treatment and stress peening is appointed.

All quantitative values given here are strictly valid for the present leaf spring batches and should not be widely applied. The results of the present study indicate the sensitivity of high-strength spring steel used here to the various technological factors resulting from the heat treatment and the stress-peening process. In addition, it can be concluded that further research is necessary to improve the two processes (heat treatment process and the stress peening) under serial production conditions.

The microstructure investigations in conjunction with the hardness measurements reveal the significant decrease of the mechanical properties of the highly stressed (failure-critical) tensile surface. Therewith, the potential for improvement of the heat treatment process, e.g. in more neutral and controlled atmosphere, can be derived. In addition, significant potential for improvement of the serially applied stress-peening process is revealed.

The paper shows a systematic procedure to assess every individual manufacturing factor affecting the microstructure, the surface properties and finally, the fatigue life of leaf springs. An essential result is the quantification of the surface decarburization and its influence on the mechanical properties. The methodology proposed and applied within the theoretical fatigue life analysis to quantify the effect of technological factors on the fatigue life of leaf springs can be extended to any engineering component made of high-strength steel.

Because of the unrealistic demand of computer resources in terms of memory and CPU times for the direct numerical simulation of practical peen forming processes, a two‐stage combined finite/discrete element and explicit/implicit solution strategy is proposed in this paper. The procedure involves, at the first stage, the identification of the residual stress/strain profile under particular peening conditions by employing the combined finite/discrete approach on a small scale sample problem, and then at the second stage, the application of this profile to the entire workpiece to obtain the final deformation and stress distribution using an implicit static analysis. The motivation behind the simulation strategy and the relevant computational and implementation issues are discussed. The numerical example demonstrates the ability of the proposed scheme to simulate a peen forming process.

Laser cladding deposition is limited in industrial application by the micro-defects and residual tensile stress for the thermal forming process, leading to lower fatigue strength compared with that of the forging. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to reduce stress and defects.

A hybrid process of laser cladding deposition and shot peening is presented to transform surface strengthening technology to the overall strengthening technology through layer-by-layer forming and achieve enhancement.

The results show that the surface stress of the sample formed by the hybrid process changed from tensile stress to compressive stress, and the surface compressive stress introduced could reach more than four times the surface tensile stress of the laser cladding sample. At the same time, internal micro-defects such as pores were reduced. The porosity of the sample formed by the hybrid process was reduced by 90.12% than that of the laser cladding sample, and the surface roughness was reduced by 43.16%.

The authors believe that the hybrid process proposed in this paper can significantly expand the potential application of laser cladding deposition by solving its limitations, promoting its efficiency and applicability in practical cases.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate probabilistic and regional importance sensitivities of fatigue life, with respect to the laser peening (LP) parameters applied to a Titanium turbine disk.

The sensitivities were calculated from Monte Carlo (MC) analysis of 21,000 simulations and probabilistic sensitivity methods.

The probabilistic sensitivity results indicate that the peak pressure and the mid‐span are the most important variables. The regional importance sensitivity results indicate that probability of failure is the most sensitive to the left tail of peak pressure and middle region of mid‐span and the fatigue life mean is the most sensitive to the left tails of the peak pressure and the mid‐span.

The sensitivity results of this research indicate that more time and energy should be focused on managing peak pressure and mid‐span, as compared to the remaining variables, to design and improve the laser peening process.

The paper presents four sensitivity analysis approaches which were formulated and employed to estimate fatigue life sensitivities with respect to the LP variables.

Sacrificial opaque overlays used in laser peening provide optimal processing and protect the surface of the part being processed from thermal damage from the laser pulses. Traditional solid film overlays for laser peening often require several applications and the running of multiple partial laser peening sequences in order to completely process the desired surface. This paper aims to discuss an automated overlay system that eliminates these issues.

LSP Technologies' (LSPT') patented RapidCoater™ automated overlay system provides optimal laser processing and surface protection by providing a conformal opaque layer that is automatically refreshed between each laser pulses. PLC control provides precise timing of the application of the process overlays in synchronization with the laser pulse.

Use of the RapidCoater system has been shown to reduce processing time by up to five times when compared to using tape overlays. Cost reductions of about 40 percent are also achieved.

LSPT, Inc. invented and developed this proprietary technology to provide its laser peening customers with higher productivity and improved process affordability.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a simple analytical model for predicting the through-thickness distribution of residual stresses in a cold spray (CS) deposit-substrate assembly.

Layer-by-layer build-up of residual stresses induced by both the peening dominant and thermal mismatch dominant CS processes, taking into account the force and moment equilibrium requirements. The proposed model has been validated with the neutron diffraction measurements, taken from the published literature for different combinations of deposit-substrate assemblies comprising Cu, Mg, Ti, Al and Al alloys.

Through a parametric study, the influence of geometrical variables (number of layers, substrate height and individual layer height) on the through-thickness residual stress distribution and magnitude are elucidated. Both the number of deposited layers and substrate height affect residual stress magnitude, whereas the individual layer height has little effect. A good agreement has been achieved between the experimentally measured stress distributions and predictions by the proposed model.

The proposed model provides a more thorough explanation of residual stress development mechanisms by the CS process along with mathematical representation. Comparing to existing analytical and finite element methods, it provides a quicker estimation of the residual stress distribution and magnitude. This paper provides comparisons and contrast of the two different residual stress mechanisms: the peening dominant and the thermal mismatch dominant. The proposed model allows parametric studies of geometric variables, and can potentially contribute to CS process optimisation aiming at residual stress control.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the influence of stress ratio (R) on the effects of shot peening (SP) on the fatigue limit of high-strength steel containing an artificial small defect.

SP was subjected on the specimens with a semi-circular slit with a depth of a=0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mm. Then, bending fatigue tests were carried out under R=0.4.

The fatigue limits of specimens with a semi-circular slit were improved by SP under R=0.4. The fatigue limits of the SP specimens with a semi-circular slit under a=0.2 mm fractured outside the slit, and they had considerably high fatigue limits equal to specimens without a slit. Therefore, a semi-circular slit with a depth of under a=0.2 mm could be rendered harmless by SP under R=0.4. Compared to the results of R=0, the increasing ratios of fatigue limits under R=0.4 were lower than those under R=0. However, the size of semi-circular slit that could be rendered harmless by SP was same. In addition, it was found that whether the semi-circular slit is rendered harmless or not is decided by the relationship between the stress intensity factor range of semi-circular cracks and the threshold stress intensity factor regardless of stress ratio.

The proposed method can be applied to mechanical parts used in vehicles, aircraft and trains.

This is the first paper to investigate the fatigue limits after SP in materials containing a surface defect under positive stress ratio. In this study, the authors investigated the influence of stress ratio on the effects of SP on the fatigue limit containing a surface defects.