Machining the Integral Impeller and Blisk of Aero-Engines:A Review of Surface Finishing and Strengthening Technologies

The integral impeller and blisk of an aero-engine are high performance parts with complex structure and made of difficult-to-cut materials. The blade surfaces of the integral impeller and blisk are functional surfaces for power transmission, and their surface integrity has signif- icant effects on the aerodynamic efficiency and service life of an aero-engine. Thus, it is indispensable to finish and strengthen the blades before use. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of studies on finishing and strengthening technologies for the impeller and blisk of aero-engines. The review includes independent and inte- grated finishing and strengthening technologies and dis- cusses advanced rotational abrasive flow machining with back-pressure used for finishing the integral impeller and blisk. A brief assessment of future research problems and directions is also presented.

Surface strengthening and grain refinement of AZ31B magnesium alloy by ultrasonic cavitation modification

Ultrasonic cavitation modification(UCM)employs cavitation effect to induce strong plastic deformation on the material surface and improve surface properties.To explore the surface strengthening and grain refinement of materials by UCM,the UCM orthogonal experiments of AZ31 B magnesium alloy were carried out in water and kerosene,respectively.The effects of ultrasonic amplitude,distance from the sample,and processing time on Vickers hardness and grain size of the material were studied.The results showed that the Vickers hardness of samples increased to1.5–3 times after UCM in water,which was 23.77–48.19%higher than that in kerosene.The metallographic observation indicated the grains on the surface of AZ31 B were refined after UCM.The maximum fluctuation of grain size on the material surface was not more than 10 lm after UCM in water,and most of them were concentrated between 1.5 lm and 2.5 lm,while the former was more than 40 lm and the latter were concentrated between 2 lm and 10 lm in kerosene.This reflected that the grain refinement effect of UCM in water was better than that in kerosene.Ultrasonic cavitation can be used as a benign means to improve the surface properties of materials.

Influence of Ultrasonic Surface Rolling Process and Shot Peening on Fretting Fatigue Performance of Ti-6Al-4V

At present,there are many studies on the residual stress field and plastic strain field introduced by surface strengthening,which can well hinder the initiation of early fatigue cracks and delay the propagation of fatigue cracks.However,there are few studies on the effects of these key factors on fretting wear.In the paper,shot-peening(SP)and ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP)were performed on Ti-6Al-4V plate specimens.The surface hardness and residual stresses of the material were tested by vickers indenter and X-ray diffraction residual stress analyzer.Microhardness were measured by HXD-1000MC/CD micro Vickers hardness tester.The effects of different surface strengthening on its fretting fatigue properties were verified by fretting fatigue experiments.The fretting fatigue fracture surface and wear morphology of the specimens were studied and analyzed by means of microscopic observation,and the mechanism of improving fretting fatigue life by surface strengthening process was further explained.After USRP treatment,the surface roughness of Ti-6Al-4V is significantly improved.In addition,the microhardness of the specimen after SP reaches the maximum at 80μm from the surface,which is about 123%higher than that of the AsR specimen.After USRP,it reaches the maximum at 150μm from the surface,which is about 128%higher than that of AsR specimen.It is also found that the residual compressive stress of the specimens treated by USRP and SP increases first and then decreases with the depth direction,and the residual stress reaches the maximum on the sub surface.The USRP specimen reaches the maximum value at 0.18 mm,about−550 MPa,while the SP specimen reaches the maximum value at 0.1 mm,about−380 MPa.The fretting fatigue life of Ti-6Al-4V effectively improved after USRP and SP.The surface integrity of specimens after USRP is the best,which has deeper residual compressive stress layer and more refined grain.In this paper,a fretting wear device is designed to carry out fretting fatigue experiments on specimens with different surface strengthening.

Improving Fatigue Properties of 316L Stainless Steel Welded Joints by Surface Spinning Strengthening

The surface spinning strengthening(3S)mechanism and fatigue life extension mechanism of 316L stainless steel welded joint were systematically elucidated by microstructural analyses and mechanical tests.Results indicate that surface gradient hardening layer of approximately 1 mm is formed in the base material through grain fragmentation and deformation twin strengthening,as well as in the welding zone composed of deformedδ-phases and nanotwins.The fatigue strength of welded joint after 3S significantly rises by 32%(from 190 to 250 MPa),which is attributed to the effective elimination of surface geometric defects,discrete refinement ofδ-Fe phases and the appropriate improvement in the surface strength,collectively mitigating strain localization and surface fatigue damage within the gradient strengthening layer.The redistributed fineδ-Fe phases benefited by strong stress transfer of 3S reduce the risk of surface weak phase cracking,causing the fatigue fracture to transition from microstructure defects to crystal defects dominated by slip,further suppressing the initiation and early propagation of fatigue cracks.

Laser-based bionic manufacturing

Over millions of years of natural evolution,organisms have developed nearly perfect structures and functions.The self-fabrication of organisms serves as a valuable source of inspiration for designing the next-generation of structural materials,and is driving the future paradigm shift of modern materials science and engineering.However,the complex structures and multifunctional integrated optimization of organisms far exceed the capability of artificial design and fabrication technology,and new manufacturing methods are urgently needed to achieve efficient reproduction of biological functions.As one of the most valuable advanced manufacturing technologies of the 21st century,laser processing technology provides an efficient solution to the critical challenges of bionic manufacturing.This review outlines the processing principles,manufacturing strategies,potential applications,challenges,and future development outlook of laser processing in bionic manufacturing domains.Three primary manufacturing strategies for laser-based bionic manufacturing are elucidated:subtractive manufacturing,equivalent manufacturing,and additive manufacturing.The progress and trends in bionic subtractive manufacturing applied to micro/nano structural surfaces,bionic equivalent manufacturing for surface strengthening,and bionic additive manufacturing aiming to achieve bionic spatial structures,are reported.Finally,the key problems faced by laser-based bionic manufacturing,its limitations,and the development trends of its existing technologies are discussed.

Study on microstructure of Fe-Cr-C-Ni-B-Si coating formed by plasma jet surface metallurgy

The technical connotation of surface metallurgical technology by DC-Plasma-Jet is a kind of rapid, non- equilibrium metallurgical process which is similar to powder metallurgy. Accordingly the specialized equipment is developed all by ourselves, which is not subjected to limitation of solubility, melting point, density of constituents, therefore pre-alloy powders are not needed. The plasma surface metallurgical coating using Fe-Cr-C-Ni-B-Si mixed alloy powders has good wettability with substrate material. The metallurgical coating has apparent characteristics of rapid and layered crystallization from planar crystal-cell to dendritic transition zone at the interface, from dendritic crystal to equiaxed crystal in the midst, from equiaxed crystal to spike crystal on the surface. Its metastable microstructure is complex phase of supersaturated γ- （ Fe, Ni ） dendritic crystal solutioning great amount of alloy element and interdendritic eutectic structure （ Cr, Fe） γ （ C, B） 3 and T-（Fe,Ni）.

A modified model of Lundberg-Palmgren rolling contact fatigue formula considering the effects of surface treatments

The Lundberg–Palmgren(L–P)fatigue life formula,as a statistical fatigue theory,has been widely used in the industry.However,its direct applicability is limited to the components treated by surface strengthening technologies.Rolling contact fatigue tests and surface integrity measurements of American Iron and Steel Institute(AISI)9310 rollers with several surface treatments were performed to address this issue.Based on these results,a modified L–P fatigue model was proposed,enabling the consideration of surface modification including surface roughness,residual stress,and hardening introduced by different surface treatments.Compared with the original L–P fatigue formula,its results are more accurate for surface strengthened specimens.Furthermore,this method can assess the contact fatigue life of gears treated by surface strengthening techniques.

Development of 3D printing entity slicing software

Based on STL(stereo lithography)format file and with Microsoft Visual C^(++)6.0 programming language,a 3D printing slicing software appropriate for the surface strengthening of the parts has been developed,which includes three functions:3D model import,model slicing and data export.Through the grouping of STL model triangle facets before slicing,the judgment times of the relationship between the triangle facets and the cutting planes are reduced,and the slicing efficiency is improved.Aiming at the fact that the surface should be strengthened when the part is formed by using of 3D printing process,the function of identifying and marking the surface of the geometric entity is accomplished in the slicing software,which can strengthen the surface of the part according to the user’s requirements.The developed slicing software can provide an entity slicing file for 3D printing equipment.The related functions can be adjusted and improved according to user’s needs,which makes the software convenient and flexible to use.

A Novel Method for Achieving Gradient Microstructure in a Cu-Al Alloy:Surface Spinning Strengthening (3S)

A new designed surface strengthening method, surface spinning strengthening （3S）, was applied to achieve gradient microstructure in the surface layer of a Cu-11 at.%A1 alloy. According to the level of grain refinement, the gradient microstructure can be divided into four zones, including nanoscale grain zone, ultra-fine grain zone, fine grain zone and coarse grain zone from the surface to the matrix. Meanwhile, a plenty of grain boundaries and twin boundaries were introduced to inhibit the dislocation motion in the surface layer during the plastic deformation process. Consequently, the hardened layer with a microhardness gradient and high residual compressive stress was produced on the samples, and the yield strength of the Cu-11 at.%A1 alloy was effectively improved after 3S processing due to the strengthening effect caused by the gradient microstructurc.

Two-sided ultrasonic surface rolling process of aeroengine blades based on on-machine noncontact measurement

As crucial parts of an aeroengine,blades are vulnerable to damage from long-term operation in harsh environments.The ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP)is a novel surface treatment technique that can highly improve the mechanical behavior of blades.During secondary machining,the nominal blade model cannot be used for secondary machining path generation due to the deviation between the actual and nominal blades.The clamping error of the blade also affects the precision of secondary machining.This study presents a two-sided USRP(TS-USRP)machining for aeroengine blades on the basis of on-machine noncontact measurement.First,a TS-USRP machining system for blade is developed.Second,a 3D scanning system is used to obtain the point cloud of the blade,and a series of point cloud processing steps is performed.A local point cloud automatic extraction algorithm is introduced to extract the point cloud of the strengthened region of the blade.Then,the tool path is designed on the basis of the extracted point cloud.Finally,an experiment is conducted on an actual blade,with results showing that the proposed method is effective and efficient.

Fatigue Properties Improvement of Low-Carbon Alloy Axle Steel by Induction Hardening and Shot Peening:A Prospective Comparison

Fatigue fracture is the major threat to the railway axle, which can be avoided or delayed by surface strengthening. In this study, a low-carbon alloy axle steel with two states was treated by surface induction hardening and shot peening, respectively, to reveal the mechanism of fatigue property improvement by microstructure characterization, microhardness measurement, residual stress analysis, roughness measurement, and rotary bending fatigue tests. The results indicate that both quenching and tempering treatment can effectively improve the fatigue properties of the modified axle steel. In addition, induction hardening can create an ideal hardened layer on the sample surface by phase transformation from the microstructure of ferrite and pearlite to martensite. By comparison, shot peening can modify the microstructure in surface layer by surface severe plastic deformation introducing a large number of dislocation and even cause grain refinement. Both induction hardening and shot peening create compressive residual stress into the surface layer of axle steel sample, which can effectively reduce the stress level applied to the metal surface during the rotary bending fatigue tests. On the whole, the contribution of induction hardening to the fatigue life of axle steel sample is better than that of the shot peening, and induction hardening shows obvious advantages in improving the fatigue life of axle steel.