Using Laser Peening to Improve Shipbuilding and Material Life in Maritime Industry

摘要

Since the invention of the laser in 1960, applications have enhanced numerous industries: communications, media, defense, medicine, commerce, logistics, manufacturing and more. Now, thanks to an innovative application of high-energy pulsed laser technology, lasers can be used to form metal components, while enhancing their fatigue strength and operational lifetime in harsh marine environments. Laser peening introduces deep compressive residual stresses into component surfaces, providing superior protection against fatigue cracking and failure. Laser peening has been widely adopted within the aviation and power generation industries to enhance critical turbine engine components. This paper introduces the technical parameters of laser peening, an overview of recent 3D scanning, fatigue and forming analysis accomplished in the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), an industry-led, Navy-sponsored collaboration of U.S. shipyards. The paper also provides an overview of LSP Technology's Procudo Laser Peening System. Efforts to date have identified multiple cost-savings and performance benefits in marine-grade alloys that apply to new construction and repair of marine vessels. Applying laser peening can provide a design enhancement for future vessels such as Ice Breaker and aluminum ship design while mitigating stress corrosion cracking and sensitization. Fatigue life testing of aluminum alloy 5083-H116 in several thicknesses has demonstrated that laser peened samples experience a fatigue lifetime improvement of 10 times that of untreated material. Laser peen forming compound curvatures has also been demonstrated with aluminum and steel. Shipyards can now implement their own on-site laser peening metal enhancement and forming equipment as LSP Technologies is the first manufacturer to sell industrial-grade production laser peening systems. For components such as propulsion shafts that are drivers for drydocking periodicities, this technology could provide significant cost savings for the Navy.