On the effect of the peening trajectory in shot peen forming

Peen forming is a manufacturing process commonly used in the aerospace industry to shape large and thin panels such as wing and fuselage skins and rocket panels. Due to the large size of the components, this process is generally performed by moving the parts through a peening enclosure or by moving peening equipment following a trajectory on the parts. Previous research on peen forming simulation has rarely considered the influence of the peening pattern on the resulting deformed shape. The purpose of this work was therefore to evaluate experimentally and numerically this effect using small scale tests. A simple model was proposed to simulate incremental deflections as the shot stream traveled over the samples. Model parameters were calibrated experimentally and then applied to a different geometry for validation. Finite element analyses correctly predicted the complex radius distribution arising from the peening path and the constraints applied to the sample during peening.

► Peen forming of small-scale constrained components led to non-uniform curvatures.
► The peening trajectory under study resulted in an asymmetric contour.
► A simulation methodology was suggested to model the peening path on the part.
► Numerical results correlated well with experimental data.
► Simulation also helped to understand the observed behavior.