Method for setting up and controlling confinement media flow in laser shock peening

A method for controlling the thickness of a flowing confinement media during a laser shock peening process of production work pieces, said method comprising the following steps:

• performing a setup procedure for setting up a transparent confinement media nozzle for flowing the confinement media during the laser shock peening of a work piece, said setup procedure comprising the following steps for at least one point on a first laser shock peening surface of the work piece:
• A) flowing the a confinement media and setting a flow rate of the confinement media through the confinement media flow nozzle,
• B) positioning the nozzle to flow the confinement media through the nozzle and onto the first laser shock peening surface, and
• C) measuring a confinement media layer thickness on the first laser shock peening surface using an ultrasonic transducer attached to a second side of the work piece opposite that of the first side;
• laser shock peening a first plurality of work pieces;
• and
• performing a checking procedure for checking the thickness of the confinement media, said checking procedure comprising repeating Steps B) and C),
• D) comparing the measured confinement media layer thickness from Step C) against a predetermined value or range of values for confinement media layer thickness, and
• E) determining whether to reset at least one of the confinement media flow rate and nozzle position or proceeding with the laser shock peening of said work piece with the confinement media flow rate and nozzle position set in Step A) based on said comparison in Step D).

A method for controlling the thickness of a flowing confinement media during a laser shock peening method of production work pieces, said process comprising the following steps:

• performing a setup procedure for setting up a transparent confinement media nozzle for flowing the confinement media on a first laser shock peening surface on a first side of a work piece during the laser shock peening of the work piece, said setup procedure comprising the following steps performed for a plurality of center points of a corresponding plurality of spots to be laser shock peened on the first laser shock peening surface:
• A) flowing a confinement media and setting a flow rate of the confinement media through a confinement media flow nozzle,
• B) positioning the nozzle to flow the confinement media through the nozzle and onto the first laser shock peening surface for each of the points using a first controllable manipulator holding the work piece to set work piece attitude and work piece position and a second controllable manipulator holding the nozzle to set nozzle attitude and nozzle position, and
• C) adjusting the nozzle attitude and the nozzle position with the second manipulator while measuring a plurality of confinement media layer thicknesses corresponding to each of the points to be laser shock peened using an ultrasonic transducer attached to a second side of the work piece opposite that of the first side.