GE Aviation
In the early 1990s, the market was becoming more familiar with the potential of laser peening to increase fatigue life. In 1991, the U. S. Air Force introduced Battelle and Wagner engineers to GE Aviation to discuss the potential application of laser peening to address a foreign object damage (FOD) problem with fan blades in the General Electric F101 engine powering the Rockwell B-1B Lancer Bomber. The resulting tests showed that laser peened fan blades severely notched after laser peening had the same fatigue life as a new blade. After further development, GE Aviation licensed the laser shock peening technology from Battelle, and in 1995, GE Aviation and the U. S. Air Force made the decision to move forward with production development of the technology. GE Aviation began production laser peening of the F101 fan blades in 1998.