Laser peened fluid end for a high pressure pump

1 . A fluid end for a high pressure pump comprising:

a body member,

at least one inlet bore formed in the body member,

at least one outlet bore formed in the body member in fluid communication with the inlet bore,

at least one piston bore in which a power piston may be reciprocated; and

a portion of the inlet, outlet, or piston bore being laser peened so as to reduce structural failure due to fatigue stress.

2 . A fluid end as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bores intersect each other so as to form a Y-configuration, and the interior surfaces of the bores that intersect each other are laser peened at the area of intersection.

3 . A fluid end as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body member is formed from 4330 alloy steel.

4 . A method of improving the reliability of a fluid end for a high pressure pump comprising:

providing a fluid end having at least one inlet, one outlet, and one power piston bore that intersect each other; and

laser peening a portion of any interior surfaces of at least one of the bores.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the fluid end is held stationary during the peening process.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the laser source is moved so as to direct discrete laser pulses to adjacent surfaces within a bore.

7 . The method of claim 4 wherein the step of laser peening comprises directing discrete laser pulses at the target area.

8 . A work holder for supporting an article to be processed comprising:

a pair of end supports connected to each other by support bars,

a bearing support located at a top portion of each end support,

a pair of circular discs adapted to be attached to ends of the article and each having a bearing adapted to be supported by the bearing support, and

means for locking the disks in a selected orientation with respect to the work holder.