Sunday, November 19, 2017

How Peening Is Defined And How It Is Performed

By Douglas Thompson


By definition, this is the process of working a metal surface to improve the material properties. This can be done in three major ways. These methods are mechanical means which involves using a hammer blows, blasting with shots, or passing the metal through a series of light beams. Peening was first done in Germany in the early nineties in order to make metal resistant to fatigue.

The process was later adopted commercially in automotive industries then to the aircraft industries. The process was accepted and included in engineering literature in mid-nineties. Since then it has been used to carry out various project the most famous being the invention of the super constellation aircraft. By the end of the nineties it experienced a major innovation when the laser shock version was discovered.

Cold working is also known as the version of the process that uses shot. It has found use in the production of comprehensive residual stress layer. It is useful in the modification of mechanical properties of composites and metals. Shots are used to impact metal surfaces in this process. The shots may be made from ceramic, glass, metals or other materials. The impact of the shots is usually very powerful to create plastic deformations in the metal.

Cold working is applied in many industries such as automotive, construction and aircraft industries. It is used to strengthens and relieve stress in components such as steel automobile, crankshafts among others. In the building industry it provides a muted finish to metal. Cold working can be compared to sandblasting except the difference is it operates by mechanism of plasticity as opposed to sandblasting which operates on abrasive mechanism.

Like mentioned above, discovery of the laser version was a big breakthrough. It achieves desired properties through the dynamic mechanical effects of shock waves imparted on the metal. This method uses high energy pulsed laser system and transparent overlay in achieving the goal. The overlay needs to be thin and opaque in nature to the lase beam. The purpose of the opaque overlay is to offer protection to the target surface against detrimental thermal effects.

Overlay also provides consistent surfaces for laser beams as they strike the target. Generally, the cost of the entire process is reduced by using overlay. When in place they increase magnitudes of shocks entering the surfaces. Laser version is computerized unlike cold working. Laser version produces better results since it is monitored by a computer. It takes less time and is very efficient compared to other techniques.

This process can also produce a lot of textures compared to cold working. Laser version works by generating a shockwave in the work piece which in turn creates a compressive and tensile residual stress. This compressive and residual stress maintains the equilibrium state of the material. As the they fade in to the surface they harden the surface layer.

the laser version was first used in metals to achieve property or functional benefits. It has been used in metal shaping by selectively laser shocking areas of a surface of metal sheets. The compressive residual stress causes the metal to flex in a controllable manner hence can be imparted in to any shape.




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