Improved Damage Tolerance in Titanium Alloy Fan Blades With Low Plasticity Burnishing

Abstract

Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) has been applied to produce a layer of deep high magnitude compressive residual stress in the leading edge of Ti-6Al-4V first stage fan blades. The goal was to improve damage tolerance from 0.13 to 0.5 mm (0.005 to 0.02 in.). LPB processing of the airfoil surface was performed on a conventional four-axis CNC mill. The LPB control system, tooling, and process are described. A zone of through-thickness compression on the order of 690 MPa (-100 ksi) was achieved extending 2.5 mm (0.10 in.) cord-wise from the leading edge and along the lower half of the blade from the platform to mid-span damper. Cantilever fatigue testing was performed at R=0.1 using FOD simulated by a 60 degree V notch. The processing provided complete tolerance of FOD up to nominally 1.3 mm (0.05 in.) in depth, an order of magnitude improvement in damage tolerance. The benefits of the deep layer of surface compression were confirmed through fatigue performance modeling.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA444609

Entities

People

  • D. J. Hornbach
  • P. S> Prevey
  • R. Ravindranath
  • T. L. Jacobs

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Compression
  • Compressor Blades
  • Damage Tolerance
  • Engineering
  • Fan Blades
  • Fatigue Life
  • Foreign Object Damage
  • Materials
  • Mechanics
  • Military Aircraft
  • Residual Stress
  • Stresses
  • Thickness
  • Titanium
  • Tools
  • Turbines
  • Yield Strength

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Manufacturing Engineering.
  • Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics of Materials.