Fatigue improvement of welded elements by ultrasonic impact treatment

Abstract

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 UIT/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 UIT/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 UIT/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 UIT/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 results of fatigue testing of large-scale welded specimens in as-welded condition and after application of UIT/UP are considered in this paper. It is shown that UIT/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.