14th International Conference on Shot Peening

New Electronic Peening Intensity Sensor Comparison with Almen Arc Height Verification

Sylvain A. Forgues, Brigitte Labelle,

Adel Alouani, Ramzi Ben Moussa

Shockform Aeronautique Inc., Canada, sylvain.forgues@shockform.com

Introduction

Almen strips are often used for peening intensity determination and verification. For intensity verification, one must measure the pre-bow of the Almen strip, install the strip on the holder, peen the strip for a period of time, remove the strip from the holder and measure the arc height of the strip with a dedicated gage. For intensity determination, these steps must be repeated a minimum of four different times to generate a saturation curve. Intensity determination and verification can account for 10% to 20% of machine usage depending on the time of peening of each part and the number of different parts peened. A new electronic peening intensity sensor was recently developed to help provide an easier, faster, better method for tracking the peening process. This wireless sensor offers the possibility for near real-time peening intensity measurement and verification. It also provides new insight into the process by counting the number of impacts on the sensor and showing the force of impacts with an intensity histogram. All data generated is digital which facilitates feedback for machine control as well as data analysis and transfer for process tracking and storage.

Objectives

The objective of the paper is to show the use of an electronic peening intensity sensor for daily machine parameter verification in comparison with the Almen strip arc height measurements. The measurements from both methods are illustrated and the variability over a 30 day period is discussed.