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Cavitation Peening of Hydraulic Tubes for Fatigue Improvement

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
N/A 		Award ID:
92668 		Program Year/Program:
2010 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
N092-120-0286 		Solicitation Year:
2009 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N092-120 		Solicitation Number:
2009.2
Small Business Information
Ormond, LLC
4718 B Street NW Suite 104 Auburn, WA -
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 2
Fiscal Year: 2010
Title: Cavitation Peening of Hydraulic Tubes for Fatigue Improvement
Agency: DOD
Contract: N68335-10-C-0489
Award Amount: $749,935.00
 

Abstract:

Aircraft use thin-walled high-strength tubing for hydraulic systems. As wall thickness is reduced to save weight, the ability of the tubing to withstand flaws, induced either in manufacturing or in service, becomes critical. High performance aircraft use titanium alloys to save weight and provide high system pressure capability. Using higher operating pressures allows actuators to be smaller and hence lighter, saving weight. However, these thin walled tubes are very susceptible to outside diameter damage in particular where even very shallow marks, 0.004"deep, have been shown to suffer substantial fatigue life reduction. The proposed solution is to make the tubing more tolerant of flaws by inducing deep residual compressive stresses using a new surface treatment process, cavitation peening. This project will develop the methods and tooling to adapt the cavitation peening technology so that it can be applied to tubing outside and inside diameters to generate high magnitude, deep and stable residual stresses. This low cost technology will add no weight to the aircraft while improving reliability and flaw tolerance. Phase I has demonstrated the benefits of the technology, improving the fatigue life of damaged tubing by a factor of 20.

Principal Investigator:

Tom Butler
C0-Owner
(253) 852-1298
tomb@ormondllc.com

Business Contact:

Tom Butler
C0-Owner
(253) 852-1298
tomb@ormondllc.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

Ormond, LLC
4718 B Street NW Suite 104 Auburn, WA -

EIN/Tax ID: 912089868
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No