Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), a US Navy aviation repair and maintenance facility aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, marked a milestone with the induction of the first F-35B Lightning II aircraft to undergo laser peening modifications. Leaders anticipate the new workload will keep the facility engaged for the next several years.
During this time, experts from FRCE and its contractor Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies, the company that developed the laser peening process, will apply the high-tech procedure to select F-35B aircraft flown by the United States Marine Corps, strengthening the frames of the short takeoff-vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II and helping the aircraft reach its full life limit.
The laser peening process takes place in a new, 16,000-square-foot facility that comprises two bays and a connected area housing the laser generator. The purpose-built, $6 million facility gives FRCE a capability for F-35 aircraft that will exist at only one other location in the world.
The process, which has been utilized on the F-22 Raptor and in manufacturing aircraft components, uses high-energy laser pulses to strengthen materials without adding additional metal or weight, which results in increased aircraft lifespan and reduced maintenance costs.
During laser peening, a high-energy laser beam is fired at the metal, which creates an area of plasma on the metal’s surface. The impact creates a shock wave, which travels through the metal, and compressive residual stresses remain. This compression helps improve the metal’s damage tolerance, fatigue life and strength, leading to a more durable product.
The end result is aircraft that have been reinforced without adding additional weight, which would reduce the fighter’s capabilities by limiting its fuel or weapons carrying capacity. Because of this, the laser peening procedure is well-suited to the treatment of safety critical components in military applications. It provides increased reliability and life extension not available from any other surface treatment on the market today.
The contractor installed and activated specially engineered equipment to treat locations on the aircraft’s bulkhead and airframe, said Brent Dane, director of laser technology for Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies. Brand new bulkheads built into new F-35B aircraft receive the same treatment at the company’s laser peening facility in California, so new F-35 fighters benefit from the same increase in performance and lifetime extension right off the assembly line, he added.
Work on the first F-35B inducted for laser peening should conclude in early spring. A second F-35B will follow closely behind, with the workload scheduled to ramp up to a full load shortly thereafter. While not every F-35B requires the procedure, many do – which will keep the laser peening operation busy for quite some time.
The laser peening facility is a strategic asset that will allow FRCE to provide support for the F-35B that’s not available anywhere else in the world.
For more information:
Curtiss Wright Surface Technologies
https://cwst.com
Fleet Readiness Center East
https://www.navair.navy.mil/frce/
