Released on: September 29, 2008, 6:38 am

Press Release Author: Lambda Technologies

Industry: Aerospace

Press Release Summary: The paper entitled “Mitigation of Fretting Fatigue Damage in
Blade and Disk Pressure Faces with Low Plasticity Burnishing,” written by Paul S.
Prevéy and Narayanan Jayaraman of Lambda Technologies along with Ravi A.
Ravindranath of NAVAIR and Dr. Michael Shepard of the Air Force Research Laboratory
has received the 2007 Best Application Paper Award from The International Gas
Turbine Institute of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Press Release Body: Cincinnati, Ohio - Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) has
previously been shown to produce through-thickness compressive residual stresses in
the edges of gas turbine engine blades and vanes to mitigate foreign object damage
(FOD.) In the current paper LPB tooling technology recently developed to allow the
processing of the pressure faces of fan and compressor blade dovetails and mating
disk slots is described. Fretting induced micro-cracks that form at the pressure
face edge of bedding on both the blade dovetail and the dovetail disk slots in
Ti-6Al-4V compressor components can now be arrested by the introduction of deep
stable compression in conventional CNC machine tools during manufacture or overhaul.
The compressive residual stress field design method developed at Lambda Technologies
is described in its application to mitigate fretting damage. The logistical, cost
and process control advantages over laser shock processing (LSP) are described.
LPB is a proven surface treatment that develops a deep layer of high magnitude
compressive residual stress (RS) to mitigate fretting fatigue, corrosion fatigue, or
fatigue from foreign object damage in the fatigue prone areas of expensive and
critical aircraft components such as landing gear, propeller hubs, and turbine
engine blades.
Application of LPB delivers significant fatigue life extension with minimal initial
capital investment and low, “on-site” production costs. A turn-key system
consisting of the hydraulic control system, tooling, and proven computer numerical
control (CNC) code files is delivered to the client for integration into their
manufacturing operations. LPB is the only surface enhancement process providing
closed loop process control exceeding 6-sigma. The entire LPB process provides
unique, real-time quality control monitoring that is recorded and uploaded to a
secure web server for Statistical Process Control (SPC) analysis.
To discover how implementing LPB into your process will improve component
performance, visit www.lambdatechs.com and navigate to the “Surface Enhancement
Methods” web page.
Lambda Technologies is an innovative company incorporating a premier materials
research laboratory with a world-class engineering and production enterprise
dedicated to the development and optimization of surface treatments to improve
component performance. For additional information on Lambda Technologies or
licensing the LPB process, contact Kimberly Bellamy at (513) 561-0883 or visit
www.lambdatechs.com.




Web Site: http://www.lambdatechs.com/

Contact Details: Diane Barrett
Lambda Technologies
3929 Virginia Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45227
(513) 561-0883
dbarrett@lambdatechs.com