[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 55 (Friday, April 4, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E515-E516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ERIC SWALWELL

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2014

  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, the Coast Guard is facing 
difficult challenges related to maintenance and costs of its aging 
ships and aircrafts. In these difficult financial times, the Coast 
Guard should examine the potential cost savings resulting from the use 
of laser peening technology, which may help to strengthen parts and 
extend the life of the Coast Guard's assets.
  Developed as a result of work at Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory and in conjunction with Curtiss-Wright Metal Improvement 
Company, laser peening uses laser beam impacts to strengthen metal four 
times deeper than conventional shot peening, resulting in increased 
resistance to fatigue and erosion driven failures.
  In ships, such as those used by the Coast Guard, erosion and cracking 
can occur in metals due to environmental and repeated stresses. These 
problems can cause damage to key metal components of ships such as 
propellers, rudders, ship hulls near propellers, control valves, pumps, 
and impellers. Without replacing or strengthening these important ship 
components, this damage can potentially lead to the part's unexpected 
failure. With a Coast Guard fleet stretched well beyond its estimated 
lifetime, the Coast Guard should examine the benefits of laser peening 
as a way to reduce costs and enhance the life of its ships.
  Laser peening has been proven in both commercial and military 
settings. For example, in the commercial sector, laser peening has been 
used by Rolls-Royce to repair and strengthen cracked engine blades for 
airplanes. From its success with Rolls-Royce, in 2003 Curtiss-Wright 
became the first specialized laser peening repair station for 
commercial aviation to be approved by Federal Aviation Administration. 
Within the military, laser peening has been used by both the U.S. Navy 
and U.S. Air Force to increase lifetime of aircraft components and save 
money on maintenance. These successful commercial and military 
applications have helped reduce costs by strengthening and extending 
the life of critical components.
  In past years, the House has gone on record in support of laser 
peening as a means for saving money on future repairs. For example, the 
Armed Services Committee report accompanying H.R. 1960, the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 stated that: ``laser 
peening has achieved considerable success in commercial aerospace and 
power-generation applications, reducing costs by enabling improvements 
in the metal structure and mitigating high-cycle fatigue failures of a 
system, thus extending the system's lifetime.'' The Armed Services 
Committee further encouraged the Department of Defense ``to examine the 
potential cost savings that may be derived from adopting this 
technology broadly across the military services, but was concerned that 
some military departments have not fully explored the use of such 
technologies to reduce costs associated with problems of fatigue 
failure, stress corrosion cracking, and component shape corrections. 
The committee further encourages the Department to explore such 
technologies for use in aircraft engines to slow the rate of 
replacement of highly stressed components and parts.''

[[Page E516]]

  I suggest that the Coast Guard examine the potential cost savings 
that may be derived from adopting laser peening, which can be utilized 
to greatly reduce cracking and erosion. It could have wide benefits to 
Coast Guard vessels, fixed wing aircraft, and rotorcraft. The cost 
savings resulting from the use of laser peening could reduce the need 
for major structure rework, slow the rate of replacement of highly 
stressed components and parts, and provide a longer lifetime for Coast 
Guard assets.

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