Sensorization of Shot Peening for Process Monitoring: Media Flow Rate Control for Surface Quality

Abstract Shot peening is a surface enhancement process that is extensively used by various industries to impart compressive residual stresses to enhance the fatigue life of the component. Almen strip system is currently used to quantify the process quality - however this method is not real-time and a common bottleneck in production due to long times associated with developing saturation curves using Almen strip. With the main objective of real time process monitoring for shot peening, Acoustic Emission (AE) sensor and accelerometer were implemented at the nozzle and experimental trials were conducted at different operating conditions. The behavior of AE sensor and accelerometer with respect to input parameters for different types of media was reported. It was concluded through this study that AE sensor and accelerometer signal when implemented on the nozzle shows initial potential. Future work includes several improvements to increase the data accuracy and reduce uncertainty; thereafter, the sensors could be used as an indirect means to monitor downstream media flow rate of the media, which affects intensity and subsequently induced compressive residual stress on the component.