Abstract

Through the years, laser shock peening became a treatment of choice in the aerospace industry to prolong the life of certain critical pieces. Water flow is commonly used as a confinement to improve the process capability but some applications cannot allow for water presence in the area of interest. In a previous article, an alternative to the water confinement was presented, a flexible polymer confinement was used and demonstrated the production of pressures equivalent to the water configuration treatment. However, laser parameters have been restricted to a wavelength in the visible range at 532 nm. In this paper, the study is extended to 1064 nm which is commonly used in LSP applications and with two different pulse durations. A 1064 nm near infra-red laser is used to do pressure characterization of shots with polymer confinement through Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) measurements coupled with Finite Element Modelling on Abaqus software. The results show that the pressures produced by the confinement is slightly lower with the 1064 nm wavelength, similar to what is observed with the classic water confined regime when switching from 532 nm to a near infra-red wavelength. Nevertheless, the high level of pressure produced by laser shock under the polymer confinement configuration allows for the treatment of common types of metal alloys used in the aerospace industry. Although the use of such a confinement has yet to be applicable to peening setups, it has already uses in some single shot configurations such as LasAT where it allows the avoidance of the water flow optimization.

Highlights

  • IntroductionThe study of pulsed laser technology, leading to the development of laser shock peening traces back to the 1960s with the work of Askar et al [1]

  • Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe study of pulsed laser technology, leading to the development of laser shock peening traces back to the 1960s with the work of Askar et al [1]

  • We proposed in a previous article to use a flexible adhesive polymer confinement instead of water [9]

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Summary

Introduction

The study of pulsed laser technology, leading to the development of laser shock peening traces back to the 1960s with the work of Askar et al [1]. The use of laser shock peening became more and more prevalent as time passed [3]. Laser shock peening is commonly used in the aerospace industry to prolong the life of specific pieces, prolonging the life of plane fleets. Laser shock peening presents many advantages when compared with classical peening, making it a solution of interest. It is a non-contact method and the use of laser allows for a good control over the overlapping of the shots as well as the pressure loading induced. The pieces treated exhibit a better fatigue life behavior compared to the ones treated with conventional iations

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