The aim with Ultrasonic Peening and Light Weight Design is to achieve the highest possible performance-/weight relation in order to reduce the weight of structures and components.
Due to environmental issues and increased energy and material costs the demand for lightweight structures grows worldwide.
High strength- steel and aluminum are materials, which can be used to reduce weight in metal structures. The high-strength of these materials enables a reduction in plate thickness. However, there are other factors as stiffness, stability and fatigue of welded joints which limist the use of these materials for weight saving purposes. Hence, a successful Light Weight Design is the combination of material strength (properties), loading, geometry, manufacturing technology and cost.
Ultrasonic peening treatment of welded joints in high strength steels and in aluminum opens new way to design high performance-/ weight relation structures.
Structures with thinner thickness imply higher fatigue design stresses for their welded joints. It is necessary to ensure through ultrasonic peening treatment that the welds subjected to hot-spot stresses are enhanced so their fatigue crack resistance is high enough to allow a desired service life with reduced weight.
