Peening, burnishing, and deep rolling are techniques that are used to induce stress at the surface of a component. Conventional methods may employ some form of caliper to simultaneously pinch opposing sides of a component. These tools, typically referred to as ball point tools, often use a caliper with ball bearings to pinch the component. FIG. 1 illustrates a graphical representation of a conventional hydraulic tool 100 which uses a pressurized hydraulic fluid to provide a clamping force. Hydraulic tool 100 is a rigid body tool including hydraulic clamping elements 105 and 110 which are hydraulically actuated. Hydraulic tool 100 is supplied with a pressurized fluid by hydraulic input valve 115. The main problem with hydraulic tools is that they are bulky which makes it difficult to process components. In addition, the use of hydraulic ball bearing clamping elements 105 and 110 have a small contact zone which requires a lot of passes in order to process a surface, and thus, conventional hydraulic tools are slow. Further, these tools require a high pressure pump which adds to complexity and cost.
A drawback of conventional machining operations of peening/burnishing/deep rolling is that they are typically slow and expensive to perform. Another drawback is that conventional tools are non-adjustable and may not be usable with certain component geometries/thicknesses.
Thus, there is a need for a machine and tool for applying stress to objects.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds