Ultrasonic Peening can be used to reduce tensile- and/or to introduce compressive-stresses, increase hardness, corrosion resistance and improve the quality of the surface on almost any metallic surface.
Ultrasonic Peening can be used to strenghten steel surfaces. Working surfaces are subjected to repeated rolling and sliding contacts, until an eventual fatigue occurs at the surface. It has been conclusively shown that fatigue lives of super finished gears with a near-mirror quality, or equivalent surfaces achieved by Ultrasonic Peening can provide significantly greater fatigue life if compared to ground gears. The measured life improvement was approximately a factor of 10. This improvement is mainly due to the combined improvement of surface quality and increase in hardness.
It exist a number of machine components, which are subjected to similar surface working conditions as gears: generator shaft, wheels, etc. The surface fatigue resistance of these components could also be improved by UP treatment of the surface.
Due to increased surface hardness (10%), improved surface quality (50%), and lower Ra values, the Ultrasonic Peening treated surfaces show reduced rate of near-surface micro pitting fatigue processes. It is believed that this reduction of micro pitting is the main cause for the improved fatigue surface resistance and not the reduction of spalling, known as a sub-surface fatigue processes.
Ultrasonic Peening treatment can be applied on a wide range of metals, including steel, cast iron, aluminum, inconel, titanium, stainless steel and bronze.
For cylindrical parts the treatment is also available due possibility of rotation of the component. As a result an Ultrasonic Peening device designed for robotic use can easily be adapted to lathes, milling machines or any alternative robotic systems.
