以下资料主要以美国EI产品为案例描述。
Almen strips are classified into 3 types: ‘A’, ‘N’, and ‘C’. They differ in their thickness but have the same width and length. The type of strip is usually specified by the part designer.
“A” strips are used for medium intensity applications. “A” strips are predominantly used for shot peening with cast shot or cut wire shot.
“N” strips are used for low intensity applications. “N” strips are used usually for glass bead and ceramic bead peening.
“C” strips are used for high intensity applications.
By Grade
Grade 3 – Bulk (A-3™, N-3™, C-3™) Grade 3 strips are guaranteed to meet the requirement of MIL-S-13165 (now AMS-S-13165). Type A-3 strip is guaranteed to meet National Stock Number NSN 6635-00-512-1892. Grade 3 strips are economically priced and bulk packaged.
Grade 2 – Standard (A-2™, N-2™, C-2™) Meets AMS-S-13165. Excess oil is removed from the Grade 2 Standard strips. The strip surfaces are then visually inspected for score marks, scratches, nicks, burrs, pits and rust. Strips are certified using a sampling inspection plan for hardness, length, width, thickness, and flatness. A dated certification of compliance is issued, signed and archived. We then package “A” and “N” strips in groups of 50 and “C” strips in groups of 25.
Grade 1 – Premium Grade (A-1™, N-1™, C-1™) Meets SAE J442. Electronics Incorporated performs all the inspection and packaging operations listed for Grade 2 strips. Strips are sample inspected for flatness (±.001-inch) on each side. A dated certification of compliance is issued, signed and archived. The Premium Grade 1 strips are identified by batch control number which provides traceability.
Grade 1S – Special Grade (A-1S™, N-1S™) Meets SAE AMS 2432B. In addition to requirements for Premium Grade 1, the Grade 1S strips are inspected to ±.0005-inch flatness tolerance of AMS 2432B. A dated certification of compliance is issued, signed and archived.
* AMS-S-13165 has been cancelled with instructions to use AMS 2430. For more information see Almen Strips FAQ.
A-3, A-2, A-1, A-1S, N-3, N-2, N-1, N-1S, C-3, C-2, C-1 are trademarks owned by Electronics Inc.
Specifications | A-3™ | A-2™ | A-1™ | A-1S™ | N-3™ | N-2™ | N-1™ | N-1S™ | C-3™ | C-2™ | C-1™ |
SAE AMS 2432 B | x | x | |||||||||
SAE J442 | x | x | x | x | x | ||||||
SAE AMS 2430 | x | x | x | x | x | ||||||
AMS-S-13165* | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
MIL-S-13165C | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
NSN – National Stock Number 6625-99-512-1892 |
x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
* AMS-S13165 has been cancelled with instructions to use AMS 2430 | |||||||||||
A-3, A-2, A-1, A-1S, N-3, N-2, N-1, N-1S, C-3, C-2, C-1 are trademarks owned by Electronics Inc. |
Note: Our strips are inspected in compliance with SAE standards that require the use of the #2 Almen gage for pre-bow measurements. Any other equipment, such as laser measurements, does not meet the requirements of SAE J 442 or AMS 2430.
• “N” = .031” (0.79 mm)
• “A” = .051” (1.3 mm)
• “C” = .0939” (2.39 mm)
The thickness determines a strip’s ability to arc during peening so each strip has an appropriate intensity range, as expressed by the arc height measurement from an Almen gage. The “A” strip is considered the standard strip and is used when the required intensity range is an arc height of .004” – .024”. When an arc height lower than .004” is required, the thinner “N” strip should be used. The thicker “C” strip is used to achieve an arc height above .024”.
The Almen strip is sensitive to thickness variations, as can be seen by the relationships among the three strip types. An “A” strip deflection of .005” would result in approximately .015” deflection of an “N” strip. The standard tolerance for thickness, ± .001”, would therefore allow approximately ± .0004” variation in expected curvature reading. For automotive applications this may be acceptable, but for aerospace applications it could be unacceptable. Therefore the ±.0005” thickness tolerance, which would translate into a ± .0002” curvature tolerance, is required for most aerospace applications.
Electronics Inc. Almen strips are graded primarily by flatness (pre-bow) and hardness. The three most common flatness tolerances for the “A” strip are shown below.
The hardness requirements are halved for aerospace applications. The hardness tolerance of HRc 44-50 is standard for automotive applications and 45-48 HRc is required for aerospace applications.
The thickness tolerance ± .001″ is common for automotive applications and half of that tolerance (.0005”) is allowed for aerospace applications.
For example, the “A” strips have the following tolerances:
Flatness (Pre-Bow)
± .0015″ Grade A-3™ – bulk packaged (±0.0381 mm)
± .0015″ Grade A-2™ (±0.0381 mm)
± .0010″ Grade A-1™ (±0.0254 mm)
± .0005″ Grade A-1S™ (±0.0127 mm)
Hardness
44-50 Grade A-3™ – bulk packaged
44-50 Grade A-2™
45-48 Grade A-1S™
Thickness
± .001″ Grade A-3™ – bulk packaged (±0.0254 mm)
± .001″ Grade A-2™ (±0.0254 mm)
± .001″ Grade A-1™ (±0.0254 mm)
± .0005″ Grade A-1S™ (±0.0127 mm)
Note: A-3, A-2, A-1, A-1S, N-3, N-2, N-1, N-1S, C-3, C-2, C-1 are trademarks owned by Electronics Inc.
Peen a strip with .0000″ prebow until it arcs .010″. The change in arc height was .0010″.
Peen a strip with a +.001″ prebow using the same conditions and it will measure .0110″, but the “change” in arc height was .010″.
Peen a third strip with a -.001″ prebow using the same conditions and it will measure .009″, but the change in arc height was .010″.
All three strips had an increase in arc height of .0010″. Without prebow compensation, however, the recorded arc heights would have a range of .002″ (.009″ – .011″), which could be more than half of the allowable peening tolerance.
If prebow compensation is not used, use the 1-S grade Almen strip which limits the maximum range to .001″. (Electronics Inc. Almen strips are classified in grades based on prebow tolerances to meet a wide range of applications, from automotive to aerospace.)
BOXED ALMEN STRIPS
BULK ALMEN STRIPS IN BAGS
RECOMMENDED CLIMATE CONTROL
Knowing that shot blasting would distort and bend sheet steel, Mr. Almen developed a small test coupon that reacted to the intensity of the shot blast stream. The coupon curves upwards in the middle in response to the intensity of the shot stream. The amount of upward deflection, the arc height, is measured by a gage that is now called the Almen gage.
Today’s Almen strips are precision springs made with tight tolerances from SAE grade 1070 steel. Electronics Inc. recognized the importance of these tolerances and developed a family of graded strips with tolerances matched to industry applications, from low-cost automotive applications (grade A-3™) to critical aerospace applications (grade A-1S™).
I attended a dinner at an SAE Fatigue, Design & Evaluation Committee meeting some years ago. The entertainment for the evening was an amateur magician named John Straub. What some of you may not know is that John Straub was J.O. Almen’s assistant at the GM laboratories, and was involved in much of the early experimental shot peening. Later on he directed the Wheelabrator R&D shot testing laboratory, where he developed the Wheelabrator shot testing machine. Among other things, John was a proponent of excluding fines in operating shot mix for optimum peening results. He also authored many papers in the late 1940s and also holds a patented dual intensity peening process.
When he finished his astounding demonstration of magic, John was asked by Dr. Ralph Stevens, University of Iowa, to relate some of the early events of shot peening in which he was involved. The question was asked why there was no “B” strip. John replied that during World War II the government was investigating the attributes of the German “Tiger” tank over U.S. tanks at the Aberdeen proving grounds. It was found the Tiger had shot peened torsion bars, which gave them a greater fatigue life over U.S. tanks. A deep depth of compression was required in the surface of the bar. The peening intensity was too high for the “A” strip, which warped under the shot impact. So a “B” strip of approximately .078” thick was tried. But it was also too thin.
The “C” strip of .094 was finally developed for the application. The “B” strip was superfluous as the “A” and “C” strips cover the intensify range. The “B” strip was discarded and not used again. There was another “B” strip used by the Douglas Aircraft Company. However, it was made from aluminum and used primary to determine coverage on aluminum aircraft parts.