HIGH TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS OF PEENING; LASER PEENING PLUS THERMAL MICROSTRUCTURE ENGINEERING

Laser peening (LP), a mechanical surface treatment generates deep levels of plastic compression thereby enhancing a treated material’s resistance to surface-related failures. Although conventional peening works for low temperature applications, at temperatures greater than half a metal’s melting temperature (T> 0.5Tm) peening, rolling and similar surface treatments degrade through dislocation annihilation, stress relaxation, and grain coarsening.
Curtiss-Wright (CW) has developed a novel technique, coined laser peening plus thermal microstructure engineering (LP + TME) and its application to AM (Adaptive Manufactured) superalloys imparts thermally stable microstructural modifications in both conventional and additively manufactured (AM) materials. By the use of TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy), we were able to definitively show why the LP+TEM processing was holding residual stress and generating good fatigue performance after thermal exposures by showing that our unique LP+TME approach generates, precipitates and traps them in the LP-generated dislocations. This work was carried out on AM IN718. The trapped precipitates hold in the stress when the material is subjected to high temperature. The process is now being tested in a wide range of high temperature applications with emphasis on improving fuel efficiency and reliability of jet engines and gas turbines.

Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies continually collaborates with industry leaders and researchers to advance our technologies. Below are recently published papers authored in collaboration with Professor Davami at the University of Alabama.

Interested in learning more about LP+TME or how this advanced technology can enhance the fatigue strength, durability, damage tolerance and resistance to stress corrosion cracking?
Please contact us.

With partner Michigan State University (MSU), CW was awarded a U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program to develop an advanced heat exchanger for supercritical CO2 generators – a more energy efficient, more compact, and lower cost electric turbine that offers the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the press release

Recently Published Papers

• Effect of surface treatment on the fatigue strength of additive manufactured Ti6Al4V alloy
• Thermal stabilization of additively manufactured superalloys through defect engineering and precipitate interactions
• Laser shock peening and its effects on microstructure and properties of additively manufactured metal alloys: a review
• Nanomechanical Characterization of Laser Peened Additively Manufactured Inconel 718 Superalloy
• Test Results for Wrought and AM In718 Treated by Shot Peening and Laser Peening Plus Thermal Microstructure Engineering
• Helium tribology of Inconel 617 subjected to laser peening for high temperature nuclear reactor applications
• Laser Peening Analysis of Aluminum 5083: A Finite Element Study