Fatigue improvement of aluminium welds by means of deep rolling and diamond burnishing

Deep rolling is an industrially widely established mechanical surface treatment process for the modification of roughness and fatigue resistance. However, the process has not been considered as a potential method for the mechanical post welded treatment of welded joints yet. Even, the potential of deep rolling for increasing the fatigue strength is comparably well-known in the case of non-welded components. Therefore, the effect of deep rolling (hydrostatic mounted tool) and diamond burnishing (mechanical mounted tool) to increase the fatigue strength of butt joints was approved in this work for aluminium alloy AlMg4,5Mn0,7 (EN AW 5083). For this purpose, fatigue tests under full tensile loading were performed in as-welded and deep rolled, burnished and ultrasonic impact treated conditions. Different residual stress states as well as work hardening states are determined in deep rolled and burnished condition. However, similar and significant fatigue life improvement was determined for both processes.

In vitro evaluation of chemical decontamination of titanium discs

Peri-implant diseases are caused by bacterial biofilm colonizing implant surfaces. Prevention and management of peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis rely on effective biofilm removal. This study aimed to evaluate biofilm removal and cytocompatibility following chemo-mechanical surface decontamination of biofilm-coated titanium discs. Biofilm-coated (Streptococcus gordonii) discs, with either non-modified (smooth) or modified (rough) surfaces, were instrumented using a sterile gauze soaked in one out of four solutions: saline (NaCl), alkaline electrized water (AEW), citric acid (CA) or N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC). Non-contaminated, untreated titanium discs served as controls (C). Residual deposits (bacteria and gauze fibers) and cytocompatibility for osteoblast-like cells were evaluated using SEM and immunofluorescence. Cytotoxicity was assessed using WST-8 assay and immunofluorescence. All protocols were equally effective in removing bacteria from smooth surfaces, while AEW and CA were found to be superior at rough surfaces. AEW and NAC were superior in promoting cytocompatibility over NaCl. NAC and CA had a strong cytotoxic effect on osteoblast-like and fibroblast cells. In conclusion, AEW may be beneficial in the decontamination of implant surfaces, effectively removing bacterial biofilm and restoring cytocompatibility.

Improving the ultraviolet protection factor of textiles through mechanical surface modification using calendering

The textile modification technique of calendering was used to change the cover factor of wearable textiles in order to improve the ultraviolet protection factor and decrease the amount of ultraviolet radiation transmitted through the fabric. Using optical microscopy and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, the quantifiable changes that occurred after repeated passes through the calender were measured. It was found that after one pass the uncovered area decreased by a factor of two and the ultraviolet protection factor increased by 200%. The thickness and air permeability of treated fabric decreased with repeated calendering. The bending stiffness remained nearly unchanged, and thus the mechanical properties were not altered substantially by the fabric compression.

On Force-Displacement Characteristics and Surface Deformation in Piezo Vibration Striking Treatment (PVST)

This paper presents an experimental study on a novel mechanical surface treatment process, namely piezo vibration striking treatment (PVST), which is realized by a piezo stack vibration device installed on a CNC machine. Unlike other striking-based surface treatments, PVST employs non-resonant mode piezo vibration to induce controllable tool strikes on workpiece surface. In this study, an experimental setup of PVST is implemented. Four types of experiments, i.e., tool-surface approaching, single-spot striking, 1D scan striking, and 2D scan striking, are conducted to investigate the relationships among the striking force, tool vibration displacement, and surface deformation in PVST. The study shows that PVST can induce strikes with consistent intensity in each cycle of tool vibration. Both the striking intensity and striking location can be well controlled. Such process capability is particularly demonstrated by the resulting texture and roughness of the treated surfaces. Moreover, two linear force relationships have been found in PVST. The first linear relationship is between the striking force and the reduction in vibration amplitude during striking. The second one is between the striking force and the permanent indentation depth created by the strike. These linear force relationships offer the opportunity to realize real-time monitoring and force-based feedback control of PVST. This study is the first step towards developing PVST as a more efficient deformation-based surface modification process.

Ultrasonic Pulsating Water Jet Peening: Influence of Pressure and Pattern Strategy

Peening techniques are nowadays attracting more research attention due to their association with the extending of the service life and improving surface texture of engineering components. Ultrasonic pulsating water jet peening represents a new way of mechanical surface treatment. Accelerated water droplets via hammer effect cause small elastic-plastic deformations on the surface. This work deals with peening of aluminum alloy using an ultrasonic pulsating water jet, where periodically acting water droplets were used as the peening medium. The aim of the work was the feasibility study of the peening process and to observe the effects of pressure (p = 10, 20 and 30 MPa) and pattern trajectory (linear hatch and cross hatch). The peened surfaces were analyzed by the surface roughness profile parameters Ra and Rz and the microhardness along the peening axis into the material. Graphically processed results show a clear increase of measured values with increasing pressure (p = 10, 20 and 30 MPa), where the roughness values ranged from 1.89 µm to 4.11 µm, and the microhardness values ranged from 43.3 HV0.005 to 47 HV0.005, as compared to 40.3 HV0.005 obtained for the untreated sample. The achieved results indicate potential using of an ultrasonic pulsating water jet as a new method of surface treatment of metals. By controlled distribution of water droplets, it is possible to achieve a local distribution of surface roughness, and at the same time, strengthening of the subsurface layers in the material without thermal influence on the material.