A unique sequence of steps is provided to reduce contaminants along one or more surfaces and faces of gold evaporative sources without deleteriously impacting the structure of the gold evaporative sources. Edges are deburred; contaminants are successfully removed therealong; and surface smoothness is substantially retained. The resultant gold evaporative source is suitable for use in evaporative processes as a precursor to gold film deposition without the occurrence or a substantial reduction in the likelihood of spitting by virtue of significantly reduced levels of contaminants, in comparison to gold evaporative sources subject to a standard cleaning protocol.

A unique sequence of steps is provided to reduce contaminants along one or more surfaces and faces of gold evaporative sources without deleteriously impacting the structure of the gold evaporative sources. Edges are deburred; contaminants are successfully removed therealong; and surface smoothness is substantially retained. The resultant gold evaporative source is suitable for use in evaporative processes as a precursor to gold film deposition without the occurrence or a substantial reduction in the likelihood of spitting by virtue of significantly reduced levels of contaminants, in comparison to gold evaporative sources subject to a standard cleaning protocol.

A method and apparatus for improving the fatigue and stress corrosion cracking performance of irregular surfaces, such as welds assemblies of components, using a positioning system, such as a robotic or CNC machine, to position a tool head for inducing compression along and into the surface of a workpiece to automatically follow the surface irregularities. The method and apparatus operates to follow a virtual control surface located below the actual surface of the workpiece thereby allowing the irregular topography surface to be uniformly processed with closed loop process control.

A method and apparatus for forming an object by additive layer manufacturing. The method comprises: a) applying, by a heat source (4), heat to a portion of a surface of a workpiece (1) sufficient to melt said portion; b) adding material to the melted portion and moving the heat source (4) relative to the workpiece (1) whereby progressively to form a layer of material (10) on the workpiece (1); c) cooling the formed layer (10) to bring at least part of the layer (10) to a state of crystallisation, there producing a modified workpiece; d) peening, using a plurality of independently controllable impact treatment devices (7), the modified work-piece so as to plastically deform the cooled at least part of the layer (10); and repeating steps a) to d) as required whereby to form the object.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to an apparatus and method for treating a rotatable component. An apparatus according to the present disclosure can include: a sliding engagement member configured to slidably engage a portion of a rotating component that is temporarily stationary; and a tool engaging member for positioning a machining tool relative to the rotating component to machine a surface of the rotating component, wherein the tool engaging member is rotatable to one of a plurality of angles relative to the sliding engagement member.

An example peening tool includes at least one first roller having a peening surface disposed about and along a first core. At least a portion of the at least one first roller is configured to contact a component to be peened along a length. The length extends along at least a portion of the first core. The at least one first roller is configured to provide line contact on the component along the length. A profile of the at least one first roller is determined based on a profile of the component. The peening tool includes a backer disposed in register with the first plurality of rollers such that the first plurality of rollers moves with the backer during peening. The at least one first roller and the backer are configured to be arranged on opposing surfaces of the component. Peening models may predict peening parameters and controller settings.

Internal and external screw thread burnishing assemblies are provided. In the internal screw thread burnishing assembly, diametrically opposed removable cartridges carrying burnishing wheels are received in cavities of a support structure axially movable into the space circumscribed by the internal screw thread. Fluid pressure is utilized to forcibly translate the cartridges radially outwardly to place their burnishing wheels into burnishing engagement with the internal screw thread, with a spring structure resiliently biasing the cartridges toward retracted orientations thereof within the support structure. In the external screw thread burnishing assembly, burnishing wheels are carried on the outer ends of pivotally supported arms which may be pivoted by fluid pressure to drive the burnishing wheels into burnishing engagement with diametrically opposite portions of the external screw thread, with a spring structure resiliently biasing the arms pivotally away from one another.

A combination cutting and burnishing orbital drilling tool may include an elongate tool body including a cutting end and extending along a longitudinal axis. The tool body may include a burnishing portion spaced from the cutting end and configured to induce residual stress in a side wall of a hole without removing material. The tool body may further include a cutting portion interposed between the cutting end and the burnishing portion. The cutting portion may be configured to remove material from a workpiece, thereby creating the hole, during an orbital drilling process.

A tool for mechanical surface treatment includes a housing, a roller body, and a resonator. The housing has a cavity for filling with a hydraulic medium having a basic pressure. The roller body is for rolling on a workpiece surface to be treated and is exposed to the basic pressure of the hydraulic medium. The resonator is arranged for generating targeted pressure pulses in the hydraulic medium. In some example embodiments, the housing has a tubular body with a tip and the roller body is arranged at the tip. In an example embodiment, the roller body is a sphere. In an example embodiment, the tool includes a seal for sealing the roller body to the tubular body.

A method for processing aluminum alloy rims including: providing a feed of a plurality of aluminum alloy rims of different compositions, each aluminum alloy rim having a serial number distinguishing that aluminum alloy rim from other aluminum alloy rims; storing in a non-transient computer-readable memory, a plurality of aluminum alloy rim categories; dividing the feed of aluminum alloy rims into a plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims by, for each rim in the feed of aluminum alloy rims, scanning that aluminum alloy rim to determine the serial number of that aluminum alloy rim; based on the serial number, determining, from amongst the plurality of aluminum alloy rim categories, an aluminum alloy rim category for that aluminum alloy rim, wherein each batch of aluminum alloy rims in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims corresponds to a category in the plurality of aluminum alloy rim categories.