Laser-hardened fillet-rolled crankshaft
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsNathaniel Hansen, Phillip Schroeder, Roger L. Moyer, Michael A. Kopmanis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automotive shaft fillet treating method including laser hardening a green machined fillet surface to a uniform depth d to induce compressive stresses into the surface, the surface extending the entire length l between outer edges of two undercut regions of the fillet, and applying additional compressive stress to the laser hardened surface via fillet rolling such that the uniform depth d is maintained along the entire length l during a subsequent grinding operation.
Claims20
An automotive shaft fillet treating method comprising:
- laser hardening a green machined fillet surface to a uniform depth d to induce compressive stresses into the surface, the surface extending the entire length l between outer edges of two undercut regions of the fillet;
- and
- applying additional compressive stress to the laser hardened surface via fillet rolling such that the uniform depth d is maintained along the entire length l during a subsequent grinding operation.
A method of treating a fillet, the method comprising:
- laser hardening an undercut-to-undercut surface of a green fillet to a uniform depth d to induce compressive stresses uniformly into the surface;
- and
- applying additional compressive stress to the laser hardened surface via fillet rolling such that the uniform depth d is maintained along the entire surface.
A shaft fillet comprising:
- an undercut-to-undercut surface area defined by and between outer edges of two undercut regions of the fillet, an entirety of the surface area being laser hardened to a uniform depth d to form a layer containing hardened portions configured to receive additional compressive stress via fillet rolling without fracture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.