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Affordable Surface Enhancement



NAVAIR LAKEHURST		Media Source: Navy SBIR Online Database

About the Technology:
To achieve safe aircraft operations, extensive inspection and maintenance programs are required to detect and replace even critical blades with as little as 0.005" deep foreign object damage (FOD). The threat of FOD failure significantly increases the engine blade replacement frequency and maintenance costs. An estimated $400M is expended annually for HCF related inspection and maintenance, greatly increasing the total ownership cost of military aircraft. As the fleet continues to age, the cost for inspection and maintenance will increase. The associated reduction in time on-wing increasingly impacts fleet readiness. A new approach and new technology are needed that will arrest, or even reduce, the spiraling costs of HCF mitigation. Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) is an engineered surface enhancement that produces deep levels of beneficial compressive residual stress in steel, titanium, aluminum and nickel-based alloys. The deep compression has been shown to dramatically improve both damage tolerance and fatigue life, and is essentially a manufacturing operation performed using conventional CNC machine tools in a machine shop environment. LPB processing can be easily incorporated into existing manufacturing and overhaul operations. LPB offers an affordable, effective and available means of both improving engine life and performance while reducing ownership costs by mitigating common damage mechanisms such as foreign object damage, stress corrosion cracking, corrosion fatigue and fretting fatigue.

Applications:		Military and Commercial Significance:
DoD / Government Applications Main Landing Gear- SCC Mitigation and HCF Improvement F119 Engine; 4th Stage IBR Leading Edge, Trailing Edge and Tip- FOD Tolerance F402 Engine; LPC1 Vane- FOD Tolerance F402 Engine; LPC1 Dovetail- Fretting Tolerance F402 Engine; Stage 1 Fan Blade Leading Edge- FOD Tolerance F402 Engine; Stages 4-7 Compressor Blades and Vanes- FOD Tolerance T56 Engine; Blade Leading Edge- FOD Tolerance P-3 Orion; Propeller Hub- Fretting Tolerance P-3 Orion; Propeller Bore Private Sector Applications Commercial Aircraft Engines, Structures and Landing Gear Medical Implants Automotive Applications Weld Stress Relief Power Generation Applications		With annual military expenditures of over $2B for aging aircraft and legacy engine maintenance, the opportunity for cost savings from reduced maintenance and extended service life are impressive. By extending the life of critical components, Lambda's LPB process can have an immediate and significant impact on these expenditures. When compared to alternative methods of imparting deep compression, LPB offers the DoD processing time reductions of up to 90% and processing cost reductions of 50-80%. The LPB process can be performed using typical CNC machine tools in MRO facilities and repair depots, eliminating the need for specialized facilities and equipment. Additionally, the application-specific turn-key solution developed by Lambda provides real-time QA process control, insuring repeatable results. The result is increased tolerance to common damage mechanisms with simplified inspection procedures.

Industry Contact:		Government Contact:
Lambda Technologies 3929 Virginia Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45227-3411 Telephone: (513) 561-0883 Country: USA		Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst, NJ 08733-5055 Telephone: (732) 323-2948

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