Four co-authors to receive award in Vienna, Austria, June 04

Cincinnati, Ohio:  The International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) – Manufacturing Materials and Metallurgy Committee selected the paper entitled, Case Studies of Fatigue Life Improvement Using Low Plasticity Burnishing in Gas Turbine Engine Applications, presented June 18, 2003, during the annual Turbo Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, as Best Paper. The four co-authors represent both industry and a wide cross-section of government agencies. They are:

- Paul Prevéy, Lambda Research, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Ravi Ravindranath, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Patuxent Naval Air Station, Maryland
- Mike Shepard, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
- Dr. Timothy Gabb, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC), Cleveland, Ohio

The paper was presented in conjunction with the Turbo Expo Technical Congress, in which the world’s authorities on gas turbine design and development gather to review new technologies. The subject focused on the application of Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB) as a cost-effective means to extend turbine engine life by greatly reducing the risk of engine failure caused by metal fatigue. LPB produces compressive residual stress in metal components to mitigate High Cycle Fatigue (HCF), failures from corrosion, or Foreign Object Damage (FOD). Simply stated, compressive residual stress is a state of the internal structure of a material in which the material is pushed and held together in compression from all directions. In compressive residual stress, higher tensile stresses are required to initiate material failure: i.e., the higher the degree of compressive residual stress, the more resistant the material becomes to tensile stresses. The paper compared the overall effectiveness of the LPB process in treating an array of advance metal alloys used in the manufacture of turbine engines with other available metal surface treatment technologies - conventional shot peening and Laser Shock Peening (LSP).  In the cases discussed, LPB produced improvements in the alloy’s performance to include increased damage tolerance, elimination of fretting wear, and enhanced corrosion resistance. The LPB process is applicable to both new and legacy engines and holds considerable promise to achieve excellent technical performance in a production environment at an affordable cost.
The honorees will receive a plaque at Turbo Expo 2004 to be held June 14-17, 2004, Vienna, Austria.

For Information: Dave Butler, Director
Advanced Application Development, Lambda Research, Inc.
5521 Fair Lane, Cincinnati, Ohio  45227, USA
Tel.: +1.513.561 0883, Fax: +1.513.561 0886
E-Mail: dbutler@lamda-research.com
www.lambda-research.com