ABSTRACT

Most people are familiar with shot-peening technology where the momentum of spherical media is used to induce residual compressive stress into metal surfaces Shot peening of metal surfaces has long been used on critical-use parts subject to service loading that may cause fatigue. Key aerospace manufacturers have utilized this technology successfully. Understanding the benefits of imparting a surface residual compressive stress, aerospace manufacturers have also taken advantage of the latest technology - laser peening. In part locations that are susceptible to fatigue failure, the residual compressive stress from peening will offset the high tensile stresses that occur during service loading that could potentially initiate fatigue failure. Shot peening has been in use for over 50 years and there are process controls and industry standards guiding its implementation. The aerospace industry is currently one of the heaviest users of shotpeening technology. Similar to shot peening decades ago, the aerospace industry was one of the first to implement laser peening. Preventing fatigue-crack initiation is of utmost concern on highly loaded components where failure can result in the loss of human life. Metal Improvement Company, LLC (MIC) is currently developing laser-peening applications for almost all industries currently served by shot peening.

INTRODUCTION
Laser shot processing (peening) (LSP) is a surface treatment technology, which consists of irradiating a metallic target with a short and intense laser pulse in order to generate, through high-pressure surface plasma, a plastic deformation and a surface strengthening. Particular benefit is achieved for improving the fatigue behavior, and the stress corrosion cracking of various materials like austenitic stainless steel in power plants . By now the theoretical aspects of LSP are well elaborated and are widely presented in many publications, which describe physical processes of laser-driven shock wave generation, models of pressure generation, and mechanics of a laser shock interaction with matter. Meanwhile the experimental conditions of LSP allow one to create considerable changes of the surface morphology of the treated metal in a form of surface structures. Actually a large variety of the surface relief structures were observed with the laser energy higher than the melting threshold for semiconductors and metals. According to their shape these structures could be roughly divided into three groups. The first group of structures (ripples) is due to the development of the capillary wave instability due to non uniform interference field. The presence of a strong correlation between the parameters of the structures and the characteristics of the laser irradiation allow one to speak about laser-induced capillary waves .The second group (cellular structures) arises is resulted from instability of capillary waves due to thermal-capillary effects in laser-melted film. The structures mentioned above were obtained at single-shot irradiation conditions. The third group is represented by conical and column microstructures, which are developed during multi-shot irradiation (up to 104 laser shots) . In this paper the results are presented on the LSP technology application to induce the residual compressive stresses in Inconel 600. To provide reliability of our measurements the results obtained for Inconel 600 are compared to the results obtained under the same experimental conditions for the reference sample (stainless steel 316L), whose mechanical properties are very similar. We also report observation of column-like microstructures tilted in the direction of laser scanning. The light reflected from these conical microstructures is predominantly scattered at angles different from the incidence angle. Since its invention by the Welding Institute in 1991, friction stir welding (FSW) has emerged as a promising solid state process with encouraging results. FSW is considered a better technique than fusion welding for many aluminum alloys, and it surpasses other fusion welding

processes in terms of the lack of solidification cracks, and porosity. This is particularly important when used on high strength aerospace aluminum alloys that are generally difficult to weld. The modified microstructure resulting from FSW is asymmetric about the weld centerline. This is due to the advancing and retreating sides of the weld corresponding to maximum and minimum relative velocities between the tool and work-piece. The FSW consists of a nugget, or the stirred zone, the thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ), and a heat affected zone (HAZ). The use of FSW is expanding rapidly and is resulting in welded joints being used in critical load bearing structures. Therefore, it is important to investigate methods to improve the weakened mechanical properties produced from the welding process for components welded using FSW. Peening techniques like laser and shot peening has been reported to enhance mechanical properties in fusion welds, however none of the investigations in literature assessed laser peening effects on the various regions of the FSW. In this study, the laser peening, shot peening, and a combination of both was used to introduce compressive residual stresses into FSW AA 7075-T7351. The influence of the different peening techniques on mechanical properties and hardness levels on both sides of the FSW specimens were characterized and assessed.

Figure 1. Severe erosive longitudinal cavitation

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the development and collapse of longitudinal cavitation.

LASER PEENING PROCESS:

Metal Improvement Companys laser-peening system uses a laser energy source that is integrated with a multi-axis robot. These systems communicate to perform highly repeatable and self-correcting laser-peen spot patterns in the areas of concern. A part geometry with the spot pattern that has been optimized for that component. Controls are built into the system such that the energy output for each individual spot is digitally stored according to the part serial number. This allows for a highly traceable quality-control system. When smaller components are processed, they are laser peened with a stationary-beam system. The robot picks up the component and with each shot of the laser, the part is indexed 3-5 mm (depending on spot size) to the next laser-spot location. A secondary robotic arm supplies the flow of water for the tamping layer. When larger components are processed, they are laser peened with a moveable-beam system. This system uses hardware for tracking and alignment of a laser beam that moves with the robot. Essentially, a stationary laser beam is converted to a moveable laser beam using this configuration. Since the laser beam moves with the robot, moving a large part is not required. For components that are not practical for shipping, MIC has manufactured a transportable laserpeening system where laser peening can be performed in-situ. A semi-trailer has been custom manufactured to contain all necessary systems to run MICs laser-peening technology. The only hook-up required is an electrical supply. Robots are brought to the worksite and the laser energy source is supplied from the laser-peening system located inside the semi-trailer.

Metal Improvement Company is currently approved and is laser peening commercial aerospace components. As of this publication, over 22,000 wide-chord fan blades have been laser peened for jet engines used on commercial, wide-body aircraft. In addition, over 500 fan hubs have been laser peened for use in commercial aerospace. These components are being processed on both stationary beam and moveable beam laser-peening systems. Laser peening is not a replacement for traditional shot peening, which has solved fatigue failures for 50 years in a cost-effective manner. Laser peening fills an important void by serving fatigue applications that go beyond the current limits of shot peening.

Figure 1 Laser peening process When the peak pressure of the shock wave is greater than the dynamic yield strength of the material, it produces extensive plastic deformation in the metal. The actual depths of the LP induced stresses will vary depending on the type, intensity of the processing conditions chosen and the material properties.The laser peening was performed at the Metal Improvement Company in Livermore California. The surfaces of the specimens intended for peening were covered with an aluminum tape 0.22 mm thick. The aluminum tape was replaced between layers

of peening. The tamping layer consisted of an approximately 1mm thick laminar layer of flowing water. Some laser peened specimens were peened using a single layer (100%), and others using a triple (300%) layers. A square laser spot size of 4.72 x 4.72 mm2 was used using a laser power density of 5 GW/cm2 and 18 ns duration. The spots within a layer were overlapped 3%Peening between layers had an off-set of 50% in each direction. A peening frequency of 2.7 Hz and a 1 micron wavelength laser was employed. The peening was applied on the total length of the gauge section on both faces and sides of the specimens. The shot peening process was optimized using Peenstress a software developed at Metal Improvement Company. Based on this evaluation, the samples were shot-peened with 0.0234 glass beads, with an Almen intensity of 0.0080.012A and a 200% coverage rate. To investigate the effects of combining laser and shot peening on the mechanical properties, some of the laser coupons that were processed with a single layer of laser were also shot peened. Tensile testing was performed at room temperature on a 200 KN servohydraulic universal testing machine using a constant crosshead speed of 0.1mm/min. The transverse tensile specimens consisted of conventional dog bone coupons and were 20 cm long with a gage length of 8.5 cm and a gage width of 1.27 cm in accordance with ASTM E8 standard. The coupons were oriented such that the weld was in the center of the specimen and the load was applied perpendicular to the weld direction. Prior to the peening process, the specimens were milled on the top side of the weld removing about 0.4 mm of material. Mechanical properties obtained in the transverse tensile test of the FSW weld generally represent the weakest region of the weld. In that configuration, the elongation constitutes an average strain over the whole gage length which includes the different weld region. This in return does not provide an insight into the correlation between the intrinsic tensile properties and localized microstructure.Therefore the intrinsic tensile properties for various locations across the weld zone were also characterized by a tensile test using a set of strain gauges as illustrated in Figure 2. The local strain data was mapped to the corresponding global stress levels by assuming that the transversely loaded FSW specimens were considered a composite material loaded in an iso-stress configuration. Using this assumption, local constitutive stress-strain relationships were obtained. The accuracy of the measured tensile properties is therefore determined by the degree of non-homogeneity and residual stress levels at all cross sections to which the load is applied.

Laser vs. Shot Peening

Laser peening is the newest peening technology and has been actively processing parts for industry for over four years. Laser peening also has its own SAE/AMS specification (AMS 2456) and has been ISO9001 and FAA certified. Figure 1 shows a visual comparison of shot peening and laser peening. Shot peening uses the shot-stream energy (which consists of the shot mass and velocity) to impart a residual compressive stress into the surface of a metal part. Laser peening directs an intense beam of light to the critical surface. This creates high-pressure plasma that generates a shock wave, driving the compressive stress deep into the surface. The laser-peening process has unique aspects when compared to shot peening. The first aspect is the surface to be peened is under a laminar flow of water. The water layer is commonly called a tamping layer. Its primary purpose is to act as an inertial stop when the high-pressure plasma is formed. The plasma is formed in nanoseconds and the mass of the water prevents it from expanding, thus driving the energy into the workpiece surface. The second aspect is the use of an ablative layer. Unlike a mask used in shot peening (to prevent surfaces from being hit with shot-peening dimples), an ablative layer is applied in the locations requiring laser peening. The ablative layer acts as a sacrificial layer, preventing a slight burning of the surface that would occur without it. Shot peening is a random, spray-type process where the surface is showered with a stream of shot media. Laser peening is a CNC-controlled, single-spot process where relatively large spots are placed alongside each other with a slight overlap. Laser spot sizes are typically 3 x 3 mm up to 5 x 5 mm. Laser spots are typically applied at rates of 3-6 Hz depending on component application. The primary differences on the workpiece from the peening processes are the depth of the residual compressive layer and amount of cold work. Figure 2 shows a comparison of peeningprocess depths.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The standard X-ray diffraction procedure was used to determine the residual stresses induced by LSP. The typical diffractograms of 316L steel and Inconel 600 samples before and after LSP were obtained using RIGAKU, MINIFLEX diffractometer (Cr K 1 X-ray source, =2.29A,

relative angle accuracy 0.010 ) and the results are presented in Fig. 1. The diffracted peaks for steel 316L and Inconel 600 are very similar in position and most likely they originated from Ni (face-centered cubic) planes (111), (200), and (220) with lattice constant of 3.52 A. It is seen from Fig. 1 that for both materials the LSP results in considerable shift of the X-ray diffracted peaks to a larger Braggs angle. For calculations of the residual compressive stresses we selected a highest possible diffraction peak (220) for stainless steel 316L and (200) for Inconel 600, which provide most accurate measurements. The mechanical properties of the samples are as follows: (stainless steel 316L/Inconel 600: static compressive yield strength (GPa) = 0.48/0.31, Youngs modulus (GPa) = 195/207, Hugoniot Elastic Limit (GPa) = 1.1/1.3 Poissons ratio = 0.36/0.42). Using these values the induced residual compressive stresses were found to be 0.5 } 0.1 and 0.3 } 0.1

GPa for 316L and Inconel 600, respectively. One can conclude that the results obtained evidently confirm the effectiveness of the LSP processing to impart surface compressive stresses on regular surface of the Inconel 600. To exclude the uncertainty of the focal lens position we studied the dependence of the acoustic pulse energy as a function of the distance between treated surface and focal plane of the lens. It was found that the dependence of the energy of the acoustic pulse on the lens displacement has an extremely resonant character, so the focal length position can be exactly adjusted to most effective way of laser energy delivery to the target. The asymmetrical shape of the dependence obtained is obviously connected with a shock wave generated by the impurity (microparticles) evaporation when the focal plane is located far before the irradiated surface. The connection was also established between the resonance curve of the acoustic pulse energy and the residual compressive stresses (RCS) obtained at the variable distance of the focal plane relative to the irradiated surface. We found that the maximum of RCS (XRD shift is about 0.30 ) takes place when the lens-target position corresponds to the maximum

acoustic signal. When the lens position goes away from maximum of APE to its half-maximum the XRD shift is not found. The surface morphology of the samples was checked by the atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM images of untreated and LSP treated area are shown in Fig. 2. The tilted column-like microstructure is clearly seen from Fig. 2 for laser treated sample. The microstructure has an approximate periodicity of 30 m and protrudes above the surface for 2.5 3 m. The tilt of microstructure to the surface is about 250. The main feature of the

microstructures observed in our experiments is their tilt. It must be emphasized that the nature of this tilt differs significantly from that of conical microstructures described in previous publication. According to the analysis conical microstructure grows towards the axis of laser beam. The authors showed that the tilt of this structure is determined by the incidence angle of laser beam. Contrary to their studies our experiments were performed at the normal incidence, and indicate different mechanism of the microstructure tilt arising under LSP conditions. The compressive residual stresses can be responsible for the formation of the tilt. It is clear that due to overlapping of laser pulses the areas that were previously shocked (compressed) and the original surface response differently. The compressive state of the shocked area is caused by the reaction of the surrounding region. During laser irradiation both of these area (compressed and uncompressed) are melted creating thin liquid film. In a liquid state the energy of the compressed area is released in a form of mechanical pulse towards the uncompressed area. Possibly that this released pulse energy results in a tilt of the column microstructure created by capillary waves. Our observation is supported by publication in which a decrease in hardness between two neighboring laser scanned regions was found.

Figure 2. The AFM images of the metal surface after LSP treatment (left) and original surface(write.)

During LSP treatment we have found that a certain amount of target material is injected into the water due to laser ablation. We analyzed the structure of the ablated material using TEM technique. The image obtained is shown in Fig. 3. It is seen that the ablated material is presented in a form of spherical nanopartricles with typical dimension of 60 nm. Such a phenomenon was observed early in the experiments on laser ablation of metals in liquid media. Possible explanation of nanoparticle formation can be given in terms of laser ablation process.

Figure 3. The TEM image of the nanoparticles resulted from LSP. One division is 60 nm