Troubleshooting a Shot Peening Process Gone Astray

Author:  Jack Champaigne, Electronics Inc.
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 19 / Issue 2, Spring 2005
Doc ID:  2005009
Year of Publication:  2005
Abstract:  
One of my most satisfying roles at Electronics Inc. is as a troubleshooter. On any given day, I will get a phone call from a colleague with a problem: "Jack, why isn't this process working? What are we doing wrong?" The following is a good example of the challenges I'm presented on a regular basis. I was invited to give a short seminar on peening to a company in the automotive industry. A staff engineer was tasked with a project to investigate and remedy fatigue life problems with a particular component. Failures were occurring after about 200-300K cycles while a competitor's product easily met the 1M cycle life test. The engineer shared with me what he had discovered so far in his investigation and then I visited the facility.