Mobile Laser Peening: Extending the Service Life of the F-22

Author:  C. Brent Dane, Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 28, Issue 1, Winter 2014
Doc ID:  2014007
Year of Publication:  2014
Abstract:  
Metal Improvement Company (MIC), a business unit of Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies, has developed a mobile laser peening service that is capable of peening large work pieces, such as aircraft, on location at a customer facility. One application of this technology has been the laser peening of the F-22. Since beginning the work in April of 2011, an MIC mobile laser peening system has been used to process the lower wing attachment lugs of 16 in-service fighter jets at the Lockheed Skunkworks in Palmdale, California under a contract with Boeing IDS. In 2014, this work will be moved to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah.