Effect of selective laser treatment on initiation of fatigue crack in the main part of an undercarriage drag strut

摘要

This paper presents the results of material characterization and a fatigue test conducted for a laser-re-melted drag strut used in an aircraft landing gear. The drag strut was re-melted with a CO_2 laser beam. Eight re-melted paths were made in the form of spiral lines along the axis of the drag strut. Next, the drag strut was subjected to variable loads on a testing machine simulating loads occurring when an aircraft lands. The fatigue test showed that the laser-treated drag strut was able to withstand 1700 simulated cycles of landing. This result was 70% better than that obtained for a drag strut with no laser treatment. In order to find the reason for the increase in the number of cycles of simulated landings, tests were carried out using transmission and scanning electron microscopes, a computer microtomograph, an X-ray diffractometer, and a nanoindenter,respectively. Results of the conducted research indicated that the reasons for the increased fatigue life of the laser-treated undercarriage drag strut were both an ultra-fine cellular martensitic microstructure and compressing residual stresses generated during the laser re-melting of the surface layer of the material.