Introducing gradient severe shot peening as a novel mechanical surface treatment

Shot peening is widely used for improving mechanical properties especially fatigue behavior of metallic components by inducing surface hardening, compressive residual stresses and surface grain refinement. In air blast shot peening, projection pressure and surface coverage (an index of peening duration) have been considered as major controlling process parameters; the combination of these parameters plays a critical role in the beneficial effects of shot peening. Generally in severe shot peening aimed at obtaining surface grain refinement, constant values of pressure are considered with different peening durations. Considering very high peening duration, however, the phenomenon of over shot peening, which can be identified with the formation of surface defects could occur. The present study introduces a novel shot peening treatment, here called gradient severe shot peening (GSSP) that instead of using constant projection pressure, implements gradually increasing or decreasing pressures. The gradual increase of the projection pressure acts as a pre-hardening stage for the following higher projection pressure boosting the potential of the material to tolerate the sequential impacts and thus become less prone to the formation of surface defects. The results of the experiments indicate significant fatigue life improvement obtained for GSSP treated specimens compared to the standard treatment with constant pressure. GSSP avoids the detrimental effects of over-peening, while maintaining the beneficial effects of surface nano-crystallization, surface hardening and compressive residual stresses. The notable difference in fatigue strength enhancement for GSSP treated material can be also attributed to the modulated surface morphology with lower surface roughness compared to a standard shot peening treatment with the same exposure time.

Effects of Conventional and Severe Shot Peening on Residual Stress and Fatigue Strength of Steel AISI 1060 and Residual Stress Relaxation Due to Fatigue Loading: Experimental and Numerical Simulation

This study investigates and compares the effects of different shot peening treatments including conventional and severe shot peening on microstructure, mechanical properties, fatigue behavior, and residual stress relaxation of AISI 1060 steel. Shot peening treatments were applied with two Almen intensities of 17 and 21 A and a wide ranges of coverage (100%–1500%). Various microstructural observations were carried out to analyze the evolution of microstructure. Microhardness, residual stress and surface roughness measurements and also axial fatigue test were performed. Moreover, the extent of the residual stress relaxation during cyclic loading was investigated by means of XRD measurements. Furthermore, numerical simulation of residual stress relaxation due to fatigue loading was carried out and validated against experimental investigations. The comparison indicated a good agreement for the surface residual stress relaxation up to 100 cycles. The experimental results indicated the efficiency of severe shot peening processes in obtaining nanostructured surface layer and achieving superior mechanical properties and fatigue behavior. Also, residual stress measurements revealed that stress relaxation started with a high rate at the initial stages of loading and gradually increased at higher number of cycles which was lower in the case of severely shot peened samples compared to the conventionally treated ones. Graphic Abstract

Effect of Severe Shot Peening on the Very-High Cycle Notch Fatigue of an AW 7075 Alloy

The severe shot peening process was applied to the notched specimens from an AW 7075 alloy with the aim to improve fatigue endurance in the very-high cycle fatigue region. To reveal the stress state in the notch vicinity, finite element analysis was performed, simulating the conditions of the used 20 kHz ultrasonic fatigue loading. Modified surface characteristics by the severe shot peening process were analyzed in terms of residual stress distribution measured by X-ray diffraction methods and near-surface microstructural observations by scanning electron microscopy. The applied severe shot peening increased the fatigue limit by 11%; however, the positive effect was recorded only for the loading amplitudes corresponding to the fatigue lifetimes in the range 107–109 cycles. At higher loading amplitudes, the fatigue properties tended to decrease, most likely due to accelerated fatigue crack initiation on the surface damage features created by the peening process and also by rapid residual stress relaxation.