The Solver Story An Autobiography

Author:  Dr. David Kirk
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 33, Issue 2, Spring 2019
Doc ID:  2019022
Year of Publication:  2019
Abstract:  
INTRODUCTION: Many years ago Jack Champaigne asked me if I could write a computer program that would determine peening intensity quantitatively. This was to be an alternative to the subjective manual methods then being normally employed. No contract or payment was to be involved. The exercise was to be a purely academic one. Having recently retired from full-time employment at Coventry University, I had some time on my hands and so decided to take up the challenge. After all my experience with computer programs for X-ray residual stress analysis I thought that it shouldn’t involve much effort—big mistake! There are two essential elements that need to be considered: (1) Data points and (2) An appropriate curve-fitting equation. Every measured data point throughout the Universe involves some variability, however small. Data values are affected by relevant variables. The effect of each variable can normally be expressed by an appropriate equation. This article is concerned with the way in which peening intensity can be derived by finding and using the parameters of an equation fitted to a set of data points. DATA POINTS