Polishing, Lapping & Peening

This process group encompasses the various methods of Polishing, Lapping & Peening that are used to clean the surface of a material to provide a smoother surface finish.

Polishing covers both manual and automated processes which produce a smoother finish on the surface of a component. The process can be performed on individual components or in large quantities and provides a more decorative appearance to a part.

Lapping is a variation of polishing, which comprises of an abrasive placed between two surfaces which are rubbed together. This provides an excellent surface quality to the component, and the process is particularly good at producing a very accurate flatness uniformity.

Peening is the process of inducing compressive stresses in a material through the use of material compression and yielding. The typical methods use metal or glass shots which are fired rapidly against the surface of a material, causing it to compress, while the material tries to restore itself to its original shape. This creates a layer of cold worked, highly stressed material on the surface. For Laser Peening, the process goes beyond the surface of the component to further enhance a component’s properties.

General processes include:
• Polishing
• Lapping
• Peening