Controlled Plasticity Burnishing to Improve the Performance of Friction Stir Processed Ni-Al Bronze

Friction stir welding (FSW) allows the joining of aluminum alloys in ways previously unattainable offering new manufacturing technology. Friction stir processing (FSP) of cast alloys such as Ni-Al bronze eliminates casting voids and improves the properties to that of wrought material. However, the local heating produced by both FSW and FSP can leave a fusion zone with reduced mechanical properties and a heat-affected zone with tensile residual stresses that can be deleterious to fatigue performance. Controlled plasticity burnishing (CPB) is an established surface treatment technology that has been investigated and described extensively for the improvement of damage tolerance, corrosion fatigue, and stress corrosion cracking performance in a variety of alloys. Mechanical CPB processing in conventional CNC machine tools or with robotic tool positioning is readily adapted to industrial FSW and FSP fabrication of components, either simultaneously or as a post process.
CPB was applied to FSP Ni-Al Bronze to produce a depth of compression of 2.5 mm and a maximum subsurface magnitude of -150 ksi. The effect of FSP on the fatigue performance in a saltwater marine environment and in the presence of foreign object damage (FOD) was documented with and without CPB processing. FSP was found to increase the fatigue strength of the Ni-Al Bronze by 70% without affecting the corrosion behavior of neutral salt solution. FSW actually produced a more noble material in the acidic salt solution. CPB after FSP mitigated damage 1 mm deep.