Spring-Loaded Deep Rolling Tool for Nonplanar Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing deep rolling tools are expensive, complex, and inefficient for processing complex geometries and thin walls, with difficulty in maintaining precise contact stress, leading to suboptimal material property improvements and production throughput.
Innovation Solution
A spring-loaded deep rolling tool assembly with a rotatable roller disk and adjustable hub, allowing for customizable contact stress and efficient processing of nonplanar surfaces using a robotic arm for complex geometries, and incorporating a load cell for real-time force monitoring and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a ball bearing is used in known LPB tools for complex geometries, then precision is improved, but production time and cost increase due to small surface area and complex processing steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, complex ball bearing tools with a simpler, more affordable roller tool that can be easily replaced or adjusted. The roller tool uses a cylindrical geometry with a larger contact surface area, eliminating the need for expensive hydraulic systems and complex adjustments while maintaining processing quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool design separates the roller from the tool body, allowing the roller to be independently replaced or adjusted. This segmentation enables the use of a simple cylindrical roller instead of a complex integrated ball bearing system, reducing both cost and processing time while improving productivity.
2Measurement precision
If hydraulic pressure is used to actuate the ball bearing, then precision is maintained, but device complexity and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the hydraulic actuation system entirely from the tool design. Instead of using hydraulic pressure to actuate a ball bearing, the design uses a simple mechanical roller that can be directly actuated by the machining center's existing mechanisms, eliminating complex hydraulic components and their associated maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the hydraulic-mechanical system with a purely mechanical roller system. The cylindrical roller is directly actuated by the machining center's spindle or feed mechanisms, eliminating the need for hydraulic pumps, valves, and pressure control systems, thereby reducing device complexity significantly.
3Strength
If contact stress is increased to improve material properties, then fatigue life improves, but material damage may occur on or near the surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic roller system where the contact stress can be adjusted during the machining process. The roller's position, orientation, and applied force can be dynamically controlled to optimize the stress distribution, ensuring sufficient compressive stress for fatigue life improvement without exceeding the material's damage threshold.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies contact stress locally and selectively to specific areas of the workpiece. By controlling the roller's position and orientation, the process targets only the regions requiring fatigue life improvement, avoiding unnecessary stress application that could cause damage to other areas of the material.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient induction of residual compressive stresses in complex geometries while maintaining precise contact stress, improving material properties and production efficiency, and allowing for non-destructive verification of stress levels.
Implementation Method 1
deep rolling process, which can induce high compressive stresses up to 1.5 mm depth from the surface of a material through localized plastic deformation
Implementation Method 2
spring-loaded shaft assembly disposed along a first axis
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of a tool assembly includes a spring-loaded shaft assembly disposed along a first axis, a hub, and a roller disk. The hub is connected to a distal end of the spring-loaded shaft assembly. The hub has an upper hub portion adjacent to the distal end of the spring-loaded shaft assembly aligned with the first axis, and a lower hub portion extending along a second axis. The second axis forms an angle relative to the first axis. The roller disk is joined to the lower portion of the hub, and has a working surface about its perimeter. The roller disk is rotatable about the second axis parallel to the second portion of the hub. The working surface includes a profile along its width such that an effective radius of the roller disk varies along a width thereof.