Experimental validation of simulated fatigue life estimates in laser‐peened aluminum

The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement a structural fatigue life estimation framework that includes laser‐peened (LP) residual stresses and then experimentally validates these fatigue life estimations.

A three‐dimensional finite element analysis of an Al 7075‐O three‐point bending coupon being LP was created and used to estimate the fatigue life when loaded. Fatigue tests were conducted to validate these estimations.

The framework developed for fatigue life estimation of LP‐processed coupons yielded estimates with goodness‐of‐fit between the log‐transformed experimental and analytical data of R²=0.97 for the baseline coupons and R²=0.94 for the LP‐processed coupons.

Approximated ε‐life fatigue parameters were used to calculate the fatigue life resulting from the complex residual stress fields due to the simulated LP process.

A fatigue life estimation framework that considers LP residual stress fields has been developed for use on structural components.