General Electric Company

Paul Michael Perozek

Wayne Lee Lawrence

Herman Wiegman

Mark Samuel Bailey

William Eugene Carlson

A continuous motion laser shock peening apparatus and method for laser shock peening a workpiece. A laser controller modulates and fires a laser beam from a laser unit. A motion controller is controllably connected to a manipulator and to the laser controller to fire the laser beam based on axis position feedback from a speed control of the motion controller. The laser controller has a standby mode for flashing a laser flash lamp at a flash rate without triggering the laser beam and a firing mode that triggers and fires the laser beam in laser beam pulses. The laser controller includes a synchronizing means for synchronizing a triggering signal provided to the laser interface controller by the computerized motion controller to fire the laser beam pulses and the flash rate substantially at a time when the laser beam pulses are to be generated.

Continuous motion laser shock peening

A DC-AC converter includes a DC-DC converter providing bi-directional conversion between a first DC power signal and a second DC power signal, the first DC power signal being on a first DC bus and the second DC power signal being on a second DC bus. The DC-AC converter also includes an inverter providing bi-directional DC-AC conversion between a third DC power signal and a first AC power signals the third DC power signal being on the second DC bus and the first AC power signal being on a first AC bus.

Low-mass, bi-directional DC-AC interface unit

A laser shock peening apparatus includes a laser unit for generating at least one laser beam aimed at a laser shock peening area and an anti-feedback means for preventing electromagnetic radiation reflections from the target area from entering the laser unit during laser shock peening and the anti-feedback means is located between the laser unit and a final focusing lens. The anti-feedback means may include an optical isolator at an output of the laser unit such as a faraday isolator. Alternative optical isolators may include thin film polarizers, glan prism polarizers, independent pig tailed optical isolators, mirrors with enhanced P or S polarization coatings. The laser unit may include an oscillator and a final amplifier and the output of the laser unit located after the final amplifier.

Reducing electromagnetic feedback during laser shock peening

A laser unit includes a laser beam source for generating a laser beam along a laser beam centerline. A beam tube surrounds at least a portion of the beam centerline. A beam aperture is located at an exit of the tube. A final beam optical lens is mounted within the tube upstream of the aperture. A gas purging means flows purge gas into the tube between the lens and the aperture. A converging section of the tube is located between the lens and the aperture. At least one telescoping section in the tube is located between the lens and the aperture in the converging section of the tube. The lens has a focal number less than 8 and may be less than 7 and down to about 5. A gas knife located between the aperture and the focal point of the lens is used for flowing a large volume of clearing gas across the laser beam between the aperture and the focal point.

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Paul Michael Perozek