Ultrasonic Impact Treatment (UIT) What is UIT?
Ultrasonic Impact Treatment is a breakthrough technology, that is developed to strengthen and to enhance the weld’s fatigue life, which are under high vibrational stresses.
Ultrasonic Impact Treatment is a cold working process, which induces compression on the surface of welded elements and structures, with the help of special ultrasonic strikes, to improve the fatigue life. Ultrasonic impact treatment works on the combine effects of followings:
WHY UIT?
Ultrasonic Impact Treatment is a relatively new and promising technique for fatigue life improvement that could be efficiently used for rehabilitation and repair of welded elements and structures.
The application of Ultrasonic Peening for treatment of welded elements of existing structures provides, practically, the same increase in fatigue life of welded elements that could be achieved by treatment after/during construction.
The results of fatigue testing of large-scale specimens showed that the welding and subsequent application of Ultrasonic Peening provides the highest endurance of specimens with fatigue cracks as compared with other considered techniques for fatigue life improvement.
The modern equipment for Ultrasonic Penning could be efficiently applied for rehabilitation and repair of welded elements of highway and railway bridges and other areas.
Schematic view of fatigue life improvement by UIT
Zone | Description of Zone | Penetration (distance from surface) mm | Improved Characteristics |
A | Zone of plastic deformation and compressive residual stresses | 1-1.5mm | Fatigue, Corrosion, wear, Distortion |
B | Zone of relaxation of welding residual stresses | 15mm and more | Distortion, Crack propagation |
C | Zone of nano-crystallization (could be produced at certain conditions) | 0.01-0.1mm | Corrosion, Wear, Fatigue at elevated temperature |
UIT Is The Most Efficient Fatigue Life Improvement Method
Benefits!
Increases the fatigue strength by 60-180%
Increases the fatigue life up to 4-6 times
Relieves the harmful tensile residual stresses
Introduces beneficial compressive residual stresses
Strengthen the weldment
Closes the micro flaws on surface and sub-surface
Increases the resistant against stress corrosion cracking(SCC)
High (highest) efficiency
Low power consumption
Quick (treatment speed of ~ 0.5 m of weld/min)
Improve the weld profile
Reduce the weld distortion
Areas of Applications
Railways
Highways Bridges
Oil & Gas
Construction Equipment
Shipbuilding
Mining
Automotive
Aerospace
Defense
Industrial Equipment