Ultrasonic Impact Treatment- Detailed Analysis

 

Ultrasonic Impact Treatment is a surface alteration technique that induces compressive residual stresses to improve product fatigue and corrosion resistance. It is usually referred to as UIT in industry vocabulary. It is pretty similar to work hardening as it uses ultrasonic energy for metals.

 

UIT is a part of High-Frequency Mechanical Impact or HFMI techniques. Controlled residual compressive tension, particle processing, and grain reduction in size can all be achieved through UIT. Low and heavy cycle fatigue are both improved. And when compared to non-UIT specimens, they are reported to increase up to ten times.

 

Ultrasonic vibrations or waves are generated by an electromechanical transmitter and transmitted to an object in UIT. Activating an acoustically adjusted resonator bar with a Piezoelectric ultrasonic instrument causes it to resonate. The energy given to the surface layer by these ultra-high frequency shocks is transmitted via the interaction of pins. These pins are made of steel and are referred to as transfer pins. They have unrestricted axial movement between the resonant core and the processed surface.

 

 

Definition of metal fatigue

 

Metal fatigue is a vocabulary used in material science and refers to the start and spread of fractures in a substance caused by cyclic stress. The start and space of fractures in a substance caused by cyclic stress are called fatigue. Once a crack induced by fatigue has begun, it increases a tiny portion with each load increment, resulting in striations on some sections of the specimen surface. The fissure will continue to expand until it hits a critical point. It happens immediately after the crack's stress intensity ratio surpasses the metal's fracture resistance, resulting in fast spreading and, in most cases, total material fragmentation.

 

Applications of Ultrasonic Impact Treatment

 

A team of Russian scientists in 1972 developed UIT. It was initially manufactured to enhance the fatigue and corrosion attributes of ship and submarine structures. Since then, it has found its way into several sectors, such as aerospace, offshore drilling, mining, shipbuilding, automotive, infrastructure, energy production and several other industries.

 

UIT, when combined with mechanical control makes the world of a difference and is used in various processes such as

 

• Robotic Control
• Lathes 
• Weld Tractors
• CNC Milling machines

 

Benefits of Ultrasonic Impact Treatment

 

There are several benefits of UIT since it is highly controllable. Let;s have a look at some of its advantages:

 

It improves Fatigue and corrosion resistance

 

One of the major advantages of HFMI or UIT is it increases the fatigue resistance of welded frameworks. It is a cool electromechanical procedure in which the weld toe is struck with a striker or needle to expand its circumference and incorporate leftover compressive stress.

 

The IIW's revised suggestion suggests an increase of four to eight fatigue classes based on the yield stress of the processed steels.

 

 

Improves SCC or Stress Corrosion Cracking resistance

 

Through peening, superficial compression is created after the effect of the strikers or needles on the substance also improves stress corrosion cracking resilience.

 

Because this occurrence happens on structures and components subjected to atmospheric corrosion, the UIT procedure can help to postpone or even prevent fractures from forming.

 

Final Thoughts

 

This brings us to the end of our blog. We hope you find the insight on Ultrasonic Impact Treatment helpful.