Effect of laser shock peening on residual stress and fatigue life of clad 2024 aluminium sheet containing scribe defects

Laser peening at a range of power densities has been applied to 2-mm-thick sheets of 2024 T351 aluminium. The induced residual stress field was measured using incremental hole drilling and synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques. Fatigue samples were subjected to identical laser peening treatments followed by scribing at the peen location to introduce stress concentrations, after which they were fatigue tested. The residual stresses were found to be non-biaxial: orthogonal to the peen line they were tensile at the surface, moving into the desired compression with increased depth. Regions of peen spot overlap were associated with large compression strains; the centre of the peen spot remaining tensile. Fatigue lives showed moderate improvement over the life of unpeened samples for 50 μm deep scribes, and slight improvement for samples with 150 μm scribes. Use of the residual stress intensity Kresid approach to calculate fatigue life improvement arising from peening was unsuccessful at predicting the relative effects of the different peening treatments. Possible reasons for this are explored

An evaluation of the effect of non-setting calcium hydroxide on human dentine: a pilot study.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of non-setting calcium hydroxide (NSCH) on the hardness and elastic modulus of dentine from extracted permanent premolar human teeth. METHODS: 30 freshly extracted single rooted human premolar teeth were decoronated and the roots then sectioned longitudinally into equal halves. In the experimental group a thin layer of NSCH was applied whilst the control group had no medicament. After 1, 3 and 6 months, nanoindentation was used to assess dentine hardness and the modulus of elasticity. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to visualize the depth of penetration of NSCH into the dentinal tubules. RESULTS: SEM images showed that there were no structural changes in the dentine slabs that had NSCH application after 1, 3 or even 6 months. However, penetration of NSCH into the dentine tubules was seen at both 3 and 6 months with a significant reduction in the hardness of dentine observed at 3 (p<0.02) and 6 months (p<0.01). The modulus of elasticity was significantly lower (p<0.01) at 6 months. CONCLUSION: It appears that there is a significant reduction in the hardness of dentine with increasing periods of calcium hydroxide application. Prolonged application of NSCH could have a detrimental effect on dentine, making the dentine more prone to fracture

Development and Application of the Contour Method to Determine the Residual Stresses in Thin Laser-Peened Aluminium Alloy Plates

The contour method was applied to obtain residual stress fields in a laser-peened 2.0-mm-thick Al2024-T351 sample. In order to remove the effects of near-surface wire electro-discharge machining (EDM) cutting artefacts on the measured residual stresses, sacrificial blocks were attached to both surfaces of the thin sample with a polymer-based glue doped with silver particles. A data analysis routine based on bivariate spline smoothing was conducted to obtain a 2D residual stress map. The results were compared with incremental hole drilling, and X-ray diffraction and layer removal techniques. The results are in good agreement in terms of the magnitudes and the location of the peak stresses, with the exception of the contour method results. Owing to the low thickness of the samples, the data analysis is very sensitive to the parameters used in the spline fitting, leading to fluctuation in the results. It is concluded that the contour method can be applied to thin samples, however, extra attention is required. Since the uncertainty is higher compared to the conventional contour method results, it is good practice to compare the results with at least one other experimental method

Co-deposited Zn-submicron sized Al2O3 composite coatings: Production, characterization and micromechanical properties

In this study, co-deposition of zinc (Zn)-submicron sized alumina (Al2O3) particles via electrodeposition method was investigated. Composite coatings were produced using different coating parameters such as current density, pH, temperature, agitation type, and ceramic powder content of the bath solution. Structural and microstructural properties of the coatings were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy with electron dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Mechanical properties of the coatings were evaluated by dynamic ultra-micro hardness (DUH) tester, a micro-indentation technique, in detail. It was found that, co-deposition of submicron sized Al2O3 particles and Zn metal was successfully achieved via electrodeposition method without any chemical interaction between the ceramic particles and the electrolyte. Comparison of SEM images belonging to the coatings fabricated to those of the reference coatings revealed that homogenous grain structure was obtained. Finally, a boost in the micromechanical properties of the coatings was gained by changing the effective co-deposition parameters such as current density and particle content in the electrolyte. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Residual Stress Measurements of Cold-Forged Ball Studs by the Contour Method

In this study, residual stresses of cold-forged ball studs were investigated by the contour method with using widely available wire-Electro-Discharging Machine (wire-EDM) and Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). After the wire-EDM cutting, one of the steps of the contour method, it was revealed that the surface contour data was affected from the cutting step. Therefore, to increase the accuracy of the measured residual stresses, one of the ball studs were heat-treated to normalize residual stresses due to cold forging. The contour data of the heat-treated sample was subtracted from the as-forged surface contour to eliminate any cutting-induced artefacts. The final residual stress profiles suggested that the subtracting procedure minimized the cutting errors. In addition, a new classification approach for the cutting-induced errors for the contour method was introduced. According to final stress maps obtained by the contour method, it was revealed that high compressive residual stresses were obtained at the socket regions of the ball studs, as expected. Balancing tensile residual stresses were observed at the inner regions

Improvement of the contour method for measurement of near-surface residual stresses from laser peening

A study was conducted to develop a methodology to obtain near-surface residual stresses for laser-peened aluminium alloy samples using the contour method. After cutting trials to determine the optimal cut parameters, surface contours were obtained and a new data analysis method based on spline smoothing was applied. A new criterion for determining the optimal smoothing parameters is introduced. Near-surface residual stresses obtained from the contour method were compared with X-ray diffraction and incremental hole drilling results. It is concluded that with optimal cutting parameters and data analysis, reliable near-surface residual stresses can be obtained by the contour method