Simulation‐based crack growth mitigation through optimum laser peened residual stress

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to optimize the cycles‐to‐failure of a peened component with respect to laser peening (LP) variables: pressure magnitude, mid‐span, and spot size when the component is subject to a variable amplitude loading. Design/methodology/approach To optimally design an LP process, an experimentally validated 3D finite element simulation of the LP process, a cycles‐to‐failure estimation capability incorporating residual stress, and a particle swarm optimization strategy were developed and employed to maximize the cycles‐to‐failure of a component of a titanium turbine disk. Findings The most critical finding of this research is that a minor difference in the residual stress profile can lead to a large difference in the cycles‐to‐failure. This finding implies that selecting the optimization objective to be the cycles‐to‐failure is a better option as compared to the residual stress profile. Research limitations/implications The LP‐induced residual stresses are assumed static and do not change as number of load cycles increase. Originality/value The paper develops a framework that relates the LP variables and the cycles‐to‐failure of a peened component. A modified particle swarm optimization approach is developed to optimize the fatigue life of a turbine disk.