LSP Technologies Sells Laser Peening System for Metal Fatigue Enhancement

LSP Technologies, Inc. (LSPT) announced the sale of its state-of-the-art Procudo® Laser Peening System to the Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT) in Guangzhou, China. The sale includes a 200-watt Procudo® 200 Laser Peening System along with paired work cell and robotic part manipulation equipment for a fully-integrated production-quality laser peening facility. The equipment will be delivered in early 2017, and installed on GDUT’s campus. GDUT will use the system to conduct research and application development on laser peening (LSP), laser peen forming, and laser-material interactions. This sale represents LSP Technologies’ introduction into the Asian material improvement market, and the equipment will provide GDUT with the fastest high-energy laser peening system currently available anywhere in the world.

The Procudo® 200 Laser Peening System is the highest-power laser peening system in the industry, and the world’s first turn-key laser peening system available for commercial integration. The system offers 20 Hz repetition rates for efficient industrial processing, and an advanced control system for real-time data collection and storage. The embedded diode-pumped laser offers an injection-seeded oscillator with multiple amplifier modules and YLF rod sizes from 3 mm to 25 mm to produce gigawatts of power. The system produces a flat top beam with up to 10 Joules per pulse at a wavelength of 1053 nm. The flexible system offers selectable pulse widths and repetition rates, while delivering consistent outputs with narrow variability. The system is designed for integration with modular work cells for laser-delivery, diagnostics, and part-handling, and can be supplied with a wide range of automated robots and accessories to facilitate laser peening parts of nearly any shape and size.

“As the first commercially available laser peening system, it was critically important that we designed and built the Procudo® 200 LSP System to meet the rigorous industrial standards demanded by the aerospace industry,” said Dr. Jeff Dulaney, CEO of LSP Technologies, Inc. “Our engineers have been refining laser peening technology for over twenty years, and this state-of-the-art system represents a culmination of decades of cutting-edge work and innovation in the field. We are very excited to be partnering with such a prestigious institution as GDUT, and we look forward to expanding the availability of laser peening technology in the Asian market through our combined efforts. We expect the data generated from this international effort to fuel the proliferation of laser peening technology throughout China and around the world.”

GDUT and LSPT will work together to introduce laser peening technology to China and Asia by bringing leading academics and researchers from the international laser peening community to GDUT for cutting-edge research.

Laser peening is a proven method for significantly increasing the fatigue life and fatigue strength of metals. The mechanical surface enhancement process utilizes a high-energy, pulsed laser beam to impart compressive residual stress fields into metal alloys such as titanium or steel. Compressive residual stresses add strength and robustness to metal parts by improving their resistance to damage, fatigue, crack initiation, and crack propagation. Laser peening can even be used to arrest the propagation of existing cracks in fielded components, leading to reduced maintenance and repair costs, longer inspection intervals, and significantly increased service lifetimes. Laser peening has been shown to impart beneficial stresses many times deeper than shot peening, leading to increased damage tolerance, reduced fatigue effects, and superior resistance to stress corrosion cracking. Laser peening is routinely applied to turbine engine blades for commercial and military engine components, as well for turbines used in electrical power generation. The process has been employed for years by major aerospace OEMs such as Rolls Royce on its Trent series engines and GE Aviation to improve turbine engine blade resistance to foreign object damage (FOD), fretting fatigue, and cracking.

LSP Technologies is the world’s premier laser peening services, technology, and equipment provider. It is the only company in the world selling, installing, and integrating state-of-the-art laser peening systems into manufacturing and research facilities. The Company has been providing laser peening production services for clients in the aviation and power generation industries for over twenty years, and has been awarded more than fifty patents for innovations in laser peening equipment and technology.

Learn more about laser peening and the Procudo® 200 Laser Peening System. Contact LSPT today.