SBIR Phase I: Cavitation Peening to Create Deep Residual Stresses for High Strength Components

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop an improved cavitation peening process using high-pressure water jets to introduce deep compressive residual stresses in materials to improve high-cycle fatigue (HCF) resistance. It has been shown that the introduction of deep compressive stresses can provide significant HCF performance improvements. The company has successfully demonstrated the ability to generate deep compressive stresses without causing damage using cavitaion peening. The broader impact of the technology will be to replace the more expensive laser shock peening (LSP) process, and will require inexpensive tooling (lower capital costs), absence of surface damage, improved flexibility and ability to access restricted areas such as inside bores of tubes."