Yuri Kudryavtsev

FATIGUE IMPROVEMENT OF WELDED ELEMENTS AND STRUCTURES BY ULTRASONIC PEENING

The ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is relatively new and promising process for fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures. In most industrial applications this process is known as ultrasonic peening (UP). The beneficial effect of UP is achieved mainly by relieving of tensile residual stresses and introducing of compressive residual stresses into surface layers of a material. The secondary factors in fatigue improvement by UP are decreasing of stress concentration in weld toe zones and enhancement of mechanical properties of the surface layers of the material. Fatigue testing of welded specimens showed that UP is the most efficient improvement treatment as compared with traditional techniques such as grinding, TIG-dressing, heat treatment, hammer peening and application of LTT electrodes. The developed computerized complex for UP was successfully applied for increasing the fatigue life and corrosion resistance of welded elements, elimination of distortions caused by welding and other technological processes, residual stress relieving, increasing of the hardness of the surface of materials. The UP could be effectively applied for fatigue life improvement during manufacturing, rehabilitation and repair of welded elements and structures. The areas/industries where the UP process was applied successfully include: Shipbuilding, Railway and Highway Bridges, Construction Equipment, Mining, Automotive, Aerospace. The results of fatigue testing of welded elements in as-welded condition and after application of UP are considered in this paper. It is shown that UP is the most effective and economic technique for increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements in materials of different strength. These results also show a strong tendency of increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements after application of UP with the increase in mechanical properties of the material used.

Benefits of Ultrasonic Peening Treatment in Fatigue Improvement of Welded Elements

The Ultrasonic Peening (UP) is one of new and promising processes for fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures. During the different stages of its development the UP process was also known as ultrasonic treatment (UT), ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT), ultrasonic impact peening (UIP). The beneficial effect of UP is achieved mainly by relieving of harmful tensile residual stresses and introducing of compressive residual stresses into surface layers of material, decreasing of stress concentration in weld toe zones and enhancement of mechanical properties of the surface layers of the material.The results of fatigue testing of welded elements made of regular and high strength steels in as-welded condition and after application of UP will be presented. The yield strength of considered materials varied from 250–350 MPa to 700–1000 MPa. It is shown that UP is the most effective and economic technique for increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements in materials of different strength. These results also show a strong tendency of increased fatigue strength of welded elements after application of UP with the increase in mechanical properties of the material used. It allows using to a greater degree the advantages of the HSS in welded elements, subjected to fatigue loading.Copyright

Ultrasonic Measurement of Residual Stresses in Welded Elements of Ship Structure

The objective of the study described in this paper is to identify the residual stress distribution and relaxation in standard welded specimens as well as in a large-scale welded panel imitating the critical, from the fatigue point of view, zones of ship structure. The residual stresses were measured after welding and in the process of fatigue loading of welded elements by the UltraMARS system that is based on using ultrasound. The measurements had shown that the maximum residual stresses near the welds (4-5 mm away from the weld) reach levels 290-320 MPa that are close to the yield strength of considered material both in welded specimens and in the large scale panel. Analysis of residual stress relaxation in the welded panel under the action of cyclic loading confirmed the fact that within the interval of applied stress ranges corresponding to the multi-cycle region of loading of the welded joints, the relaxation of residual stresses occurs mainly during the first cycle.

Effectiveness of ultrasonic peening in fatigue improvement of welded elements and structures

The ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is relatively new and promising process for fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures. In most industrial applications this process is known as ultrasonic peening (UP). The beneficial effect of UP is achieved mainly by relieving of tensile residual stresses and introducing of compressive residual stresses into surface layers of a material. The secondary factors in fatigue improvement by UP are decreasing of stress concentration in weld toe zones and enhancement of mechanical properties of the surface layers of the material. Fatigue testing of welded specimens showed that UP is the most efficient improvement treatment as compared with traditional techniques such as grinding, TIG-dressing, heat treatment, hammer peening and application of LTT electrodes. The developed computerized complex for UP was successfully applied for increasing the fatigue life and corrosion resistance of welded elements, elimination of distortions caused by welding and other technological processes, residual stress relieving, increasing of the hardness of the surface of materials. The UP could be effectively applied for fatigue life improvement during manufacturing, rehabilitation and repair of welded elements and structures. The areas/industries where the UP process was applied successfully include: Shipbuilding, Railway and Highway Bridges, Construction Equipment, Mining, Automotive, Aerospace. The results of fatigue testing of welded elements in as-welded condition and after application of UP are considered in this paper. It is shown that UP is the most effective and economic technique for increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements in materials of different strength. These results also show a strong tendency of increasing of fatigue strength of welded elements after application of UP with the increase in mechanical properties of the material used.

Non-destructive measurement of residual stresses in railway wheels by ultrasonic method

While certain progress has been achieved in the development of different techniques for residual stress measurement, a considerable effort is still required to develop efficient and cost-effective methods of residual stress measurement and analysis. A new ultrasonic computerized complex UltraMARS was developed recently that can be used for non-destructive measurement of applied and residual stresses in laboratory samples and real parts and structural elements in many applications for a wide range of materials. The system was used in measurements of residual stresses in the rim of a railway wheel that was in service without intensive drag braking. The measurements showed that depth of compressive hoop stresses is 26mm from the rolling surface with a maximum value of −60 MPa. Similar measurements of residual stresses in the rim of railway wheel with intensive drag braking showed that the hoop residual stresses in rolling surface layers are tensile.

Non-Destructive Measurement of Residual Stresses by an Ultrasonic Method

An ultrasonic computerized complex for measurement of residual and applied stresses UltraMARS® was recently introduced. Average through thickness stresses can be measured based on the acoustic-elasticity effect, according to which the velocity of elastic wave propagation in solids is dependent on the mechanical stress. The system was used successfully in numerous applications proving to be a reliable, fast and economical way to evaluate residual and applied stresses in materials and structures. The newly developed complex was used in a number of applications that called for non-destructive evaluation of stresses. Examples of such applications will be discussed in the paper.The system was further developed to allow for measurement of subsurface and surface stresses in structural materials and made of them structures.Copyright

Residual Stress Management in Welding: Residual Stress Measurement and Improvement Treatments

Residual stress (RS) can significantly affect engineering properties of materials and structural components, notably fatigue life, distortion, dimensional stability, corrosion resistance etc. Residual stresses play an exceptionally significant role in fatigue of welded elements. The influence of residual stresses on the multi-cycle fatigue life of butt and fillet welds can be compared with the effects of stress concentration. Even more significant are the effects of residual stresses on the fatigue life of welded elements in the case of relieving harmful tensile residual stresses and introducing beneficial compressive residual stresses in the weld toe zones.Residual stress management is a concept that addresses major aspects of residual stresses in welds and welded structures. According to the concept three major stages, i.e. RS determination, RS analysis and RS redistribution are considered and evaluated, either experimentally or theoretically to achieve the optimum performance of welded structures.All three stages as well as a number of new engineering tools such as ultrasonic computerized complex for residual stress measurement, UltraMARS, software for analysis of the effect of residual stresses on the fatigue life of welded elements and new technology and, based on it, compact system for beneficial redistribution of residual stresses by ultrasonic peening, UltraPeen will be discussed. Examples of industrial applications of the developed engineering tools for residual stress analysis and fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures will be given.Copyright

Underwater Stress Relief and Fatigue Improvement by Ultrasonic Peening

A new ultrasonic peening instrument was developed for underwater treatment of welds and welded structures. The Ultrasonic Peening (UP) established itself as a promising process for fatigue life improvement of welded elements and structures. The beneficial effect of UP is obtained through relieving of harmful tensile residual stresses and introducing of compressive residual stresses into surface layers of materials, and through decreasing of stress concentration in weld toe zones and enhancement of mechanical properties of the surface layers of the materials.In the design of the underwater UP instrument specially selected anti-corrosion materials are used. The underwater UP instrument can be used for treatment of welds at depths up to 30 meters or, if required, with certain modifications, even deeper. Acoustic pump principle is used in the originally developed system for water cooling of the transducer. The developed UP system allows for improvement treatments at four different power levels and is using replaceable working heads that come in various configurations with variable numbers of pins, depending on the application.Copyright