Patent ID: 7192501

Claim:
A method for altering residual stresses in a fiber-metal-laminate structure, the method comprising: providing at least a first fiber laminate substrate layer having a first surface and a second surface; providing at least a first outer metallic laminate layer having a third surface and a fourth surface; preparing at least one of the first and fourth surfaces with a sol-gel surface treatment; bonding together the first and fourth surfaces including providing a bond layer between the first and the fourth surfaces that includes a relatively uniform layer of a selected adhesive; and peening the third surface, such that the at least first fiber laminate substrate layer is subjected to residual tensile stresses and the at least first outer metallic laminate layer is subjected to residual compression stresses, wherein the third surface is peened at a predetermined peening intensity that provides a surface peening in a range of about 0.004 to about 0.020 as measured on an appropriate portion of the Almen A-Scale, and wherein peening defines a peened region that extends from the third surface into the at least first outer metallic laminate layer a finite distance that is closer to the third surface than the fourth surface.