Search Results (35)

This work systematically investigated the effects of warm shot peening (WSP) on the microstructure evolution, residual stress, and microhardness of the Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.4Zr (GW83) alloy by X-ray diffraction line profile analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray stress analyzer and hardness tester. The results indicated that severe plastic deformation induced by WSP resulted in a gradient nanostructure in the GW83 alloy, accompanied by significant compressive residual stress. In contrast to conventional SP, WSP led to working softening due to the dynamic recrystallization behavior. The formation of nanograins in the GW83 alloy during WSP occurs in three steps: (i) at an early stage, the introduction of a high density of dislocations and a few deformation twins subdivide bulk grains into substructures; (ii) through the processes of dislocation gliding, accumulation, and rearrangement, these substructures undergo further refinement, gradually evolving into ultrafine grains; and (iii) the inhomogeneous ultrafine grains develop into nanograins through dislocation-assisted lattice rotation and dynamic recrystallization. Full article

A surface modification through multiple microshot peening (MSP) was performed on Mg–steel weldment. Application of MSP was found beneficial to the elimination of surface microdefects owing to severe plastic deformation induced by MSP. Moreover, MSP treatment transformed the residual tensile stress of the weld surface into residual compressive stress, which was beneficial to inhibit the initiation and propagation of surface microdefects. Strain strengthening and grain refining were introduced into the shot peened joint, resulting in the notable increase in surface hardness and tensile strength. Compared with an untreated joint, the tensile strength of optimized Mg/steel weldment was markedly enhanced and raised 28% to 244 MPa, and fracture ultimately occurred in the Mg alloy base material. Moreover, the refinement of weld grain induced by MSP treatment was beneficial to strengthen the stress corrosion sensitivity of Mg/steel joints, while also promoting the formation of a denser Mg(OH)₂ passivation film on the weld surface and enhancing the corrosion resistance of the joints. Full article

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are prospective advanced materials for the production of components that operate at high, severe friction and in high-temperature environments. This is because they possess unique properties requisite for such applications. Hence, this study was aimed at reviewing most recent publications on the tribological characteristics of HEAs processed with spark plasma sintering (SPS). The choice of SPS was because it impacts alloys with a homogenous microstructure, high wear resistance, densely packed grains, and nanocrystalline microstructure. The resource materials for this study were obtained from the Scopus-indexed journal/Google Scholar website for articles published within the last five years. From the study, it was observed that HEAs have good tribological properties which permit their prospective usage in the production of strength-demanding, wear-demanding, and temperature-demanding components. The addition of BCC-forming and FCC-forming elements would help in improving the wear properties of HEAs. It was also observed from the literature that the incorporation of post-processing treatment, laser cladding, shot peening, or the coating of SPSed composites would increase the effective performance and durability of HEAs prepared with SPS. Full article

Böhler K390 steel is used for cold work tools, with 9% of V, made by using powder metallurgy. In this work, it has been studied the effect of shot peening and nitriding surface treatments on wear resistance and impact toughness of this type of steel. For this purpose, previous changes in several thermal processing factors related to quenching and tempering were carried out. The results allow for an increase in the hardness, impact toughness, and abrasive wear resistance of these steels. An austenitizing treatment at 1100 °C with air cooling and 3 tempering processes at 550 °C is suggested. These conditions foster a lower weight percentage of retained austenite, up to 3%, a higher carbide percentage, up to 15–16% in weight, and a greater impact toughness with no notch, of above 40 J/cm². If this treatment is combined with further ion nitriding, the maximum level of abrasive wear resistance is reached. The only carbide type present in the microstructure is the MC type. Most of the V, Cr, and Mo contents are present in said carbides. The Co and the W tend to remain in solid solution in the matrix constituent. Both the shot peening treatment as well as ion nitriding offer a considerable increase in hardness, with values of up to 1500–1600 HV. Nevertheless, it has been confirmed that shot peening does not offer any abrasive wear resistance improvement. Such resistance may only be considerably improved by the application of an ionic nitriding treatment. The thickness of the nitrided layer fluctuates between 150 and 175 µm. The carbides are affected by nitriding, reaching levels that are higher than the atomic 10%, at an intermediate depth of the nitrided layer. These values are higher in the matrix constituent, as they are even higher than the atomic 20% in N. Full article

For the first time, the present study investigates the corrosion, surface, and subsurface properties of a shot-peened Ti6Al4V powder metallurgical alloy produced via pressure-assisted sintering. Shot peening yielded a fine-grained microstructure beneath the surface down to 100 microns, showing that it caused severe plastic deformation. XRD analysis revealed that the sizes of the crystallites in unpeened and shot-peened Ti6Al4V alloy samples were 48.59 nm and 27.26 nm, respectively, indicating a substantial reduction in crystallite size with shot peening. Cross-sectional hardness maps of shot-peened samples showed a work-hardened surface layer, indicating a ~17% increase in near-surface hardness relative to unpeened samples. Three-dimensional surface topographies showed that shot peening yielded uniform peaks and valleys, with a maximum peak height of 4.83 μm and depth of 6.56 μm. With shot peening, the corrosion potential shifted from −0.386 V to −0.175 V, showing that the passive layer developed faster and was more stable than the unpeened sample, improving corrosion resistance. As determined via XRD analysis, the increased grain refinement (i.e., the number of grain boundaries) and the subsequent accumulation of TiO₂ and Al₅Ti₃V₂ compounds through shot peening also suggested the effective formation of a protective passive layer. As demonstrated via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the formation of this passive film improved the corrosion resistance of the alloy. The findings will likely advance surface engineering and corrosion research, enabling safer and more productive shot peening in corrosion-critical applications. Full article

Shot peening is a surface treatment process that improves the fatigue life of a material and suppresses cracks by generating residual stress on the surface. The injected small shots create a compressive residual stress layer on the material’s surface. Maximum compressive residual stress occurs at a certain depth, and tensile residual stress gradually occurs as the depth increases. This process is primarily used for nickel-based superalloy steel materials in certain environments, such as the aerospace industry and nuclear power fields. To prevent such a severe accident due to the high-temperature and high-pressure environment, evaluating the residual stress of shot-peened materials is essential in evaluating the soundness of the material. Representative methods for evaluating residual stress include perforation strain gauge analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and ultrasonic testing. Among them, ultrasonic testing is a representative, non-destructive evaluation method, and residual stress can be estimated using a Rayleigh wave. Therefore, in this study, the maximum compressive residual stress value of the peened Inconel 718 specimen was predicted using a prediction convolutional neural network (CNN) based on the relationship between Rayleigh wave dispersion and stress distribution on the specimen. By analyzing the residual stress distribution in the depth direction generated in the model from various studies in the literature, 173 residual stress distributions were generated using the Gaussian function and factorial design approach. The distribution generated using the relationship was converted into 173 Rayleigh wave dispersion data to be used as a database for the CNN model. The CNN model was learned through this database, and performance was verified using validation data. The adopted Rayleigh wave dispersion and convolutional neural network procedures demonstrate the ability to predict the maximum compressive residual stress in the peened specimen. Full article

Large residual stress of 2219 aluminum alloy induced by Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding decreases its service performances. Shot peening was adopted to decrease the residual stress of TIG welding. Numerical models of TIG welding and shot peening were established using the combined discrete and finite element methods (DEM–FEM). The results show that TIG welding induces tensile residual stress due to the heat exchange effect and the longitudinal stress is larger than that in the transverse direction. The maximum tensile stress occurs at a depth of 0.1 mm. The surface tensile stress changes to compressive stress after shot peening as the severe deformation induced by the shots changes the stress state of the plate. The maximum value of compressive stress (σm) and the peened depth with compressive stress (Z0) are adopted to describe the peening effect. The absolute value of σm increases with the increased peening speed and nozzle height. Mixed shots with a diameter of 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm induce larger value of σm than those with only a diameter of 1.2 mm. The value of Z0 increases with the ascending shots diameter and nozzle height, while it varies nonmonotonically with the peening speed. The effect of shot peening on the residual stress in TIG welding is discussed. Full article

The endurance limit of structural mechanical components is affected by the residual stress state, which depends strongly on the manufacturing process. In general, compressive residual stresses tend to result in an increased fatigue strength. Post-manufacturing processes such as shot peening or vibratory finishing may achieve such a compressive residual stress state. But within complex components, manufacturing-process-based imperfections severely limit the fatigue strength. Thus, the interactions of imperfections, residual stress state and material strength are key aspects in fatigue design. In this work, cast steel and aluminium alloys are investigated, each of them in vibratory finished and polished surface condition. A layer-based fatigue assessment concept is extended towards stable effective mean stress state considering the elastic–plastic material behaviour. Murakami’s concept was applied to incorporate the effect of hardness change and residual stress state. Residual stress relaxation is determined by elastic–plastic simulations invoking a combined hardening model. If the effective stress ratio within the local layer-based fatigue strength is evaluated as critical distance value, a sound calculation of fatigue strength can be achieved. Summing up, the layer-based fatigue strength design is extended and features an enhanced understanding of the effective stabilized mean stress state during cyclic loading. Full article

Cobalt–chromium (CoCr) alloy is widely used for medical implants such as for dental or joint replacements because of its strength and high corrosion resistance. By throwing a spherical media against a material surface, fine-particle shot peening can modify surface properties and, as a result, has been widely used as a low-cost and simple method to increase a metal’s wear resistance. However, no recent literature has reported the effect of particle type and size on the surface properties of CoCr alloys. This study examined two different particle types (ceramic (alumina–zirconia composites) and silica (SiO₂)) and three different particle sizes to determine their effects on CoCr’s surface properties after fine-particle shot peening. The surface properties, including morphology, roughness, hardness, residual stress, and cytotoxicity, were tested to evaluate the effect of the process. The larger size and higher hardness of the particle (ceramic) changed the surface microstructure more than particles with smaller sizes and lower hardness (silica). The results of the cytotoxicity test showed that the fine-particle shot peening on the CoCr material did not affect cell viability, an important fact when considering its potential use as a surface material for medical implants. The results showed that fine-particle shot peening on CoCr material can improve several surface properties and that the larger ceramic particle offers the best results. Full article

The phenomena of cavitation and cavitation erosion affect hydraulic machines, increasing their maintenance costs. Both these phenomena and also the methods of preventing the destruction of materials are presented. The compressive stress in the surface layer created from the implosion of cavitation bubbles depends on the aggressiveness of the cavitation, which in turn depends on the test device and test conditions, and also affects the erosion rate. Comparing the erosion rates of different materials tested using different tests devices, the correlation with material hardness was confirmed. However, no one simple correlation was obtained but rather several were achieved. This indicates that in addition to hardness, cavitation erosion resistance is also affected by other properties, such as ductility, fatigue strength and fracture toughness. Various methods such as plasma nitriding, shot peening, deep rolling and coating deposition used to increase resistance to cavitation erosion by increasing the hardness of the material surface are presented. It is shown that the improvement depends on the substrate, coating material and test conditions, but even using the same materials and test conditions large differences in the improvement can be sometimes gained. Moreover, sometimes a slight change in the manufacturing conditions of the protective layer or coating component can even contribute to a deterioration in resistance compared with the untreated material. Plasma nitriding can improve resistance by even 20 times, but in most cases, the improvement was about two-fold. Shot peening or friction stir processing can improve erosion resistance up to five times. However, such treatment introduces compressive stresses into the surface layer, which reduces corrosion resistance. Testing in a 3.5% NaCl solution showed a deterioration of resistance. Other effective treatments were laser treatment (an improvement from 1.15 times to about 7 times), the deposition of PVD coatings (an improvement of up to 40 times) and HVOF coatings or HVAF coatings (an improvement of up to 6.5 times). It is shown that the ratio of the coating hardness to the hardness of the substrate is also very important, and for a value greater than the threshold value, the improvement in resistance decreases. A thick, hard and brittle coating or alloyed layer may impair the resistance compared to the untreated substrate material. Full article

Cu-bearing high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been proposed for use as structural materials in the marine environment due to their superior mechanical and antimicrobial properties. However, the Al, Cu-enriched precipitations in HEAs damage their corrosion resistance. In this study, we used ultrasonic shot peening (USSP) technology to solve this problem. USSP caused severe plastic deformation of the Al_0.3Cu_0.5CoCrFeNi HEA surface and dispersed the long-strip Al, Cu-enriched phases into scattered dots, which reduced the galvanic corrosion of the HEA and enhanced passive film formation. The Al, Cu-enriched scattered precipitations also increased the number of Cu²⁺ ion dissolution sites, leading to the improvement of the alloy’s antibacterial properties. Full article

The effect of shot peen forming on the corrosion-resistant of 2024 aluminum alloy in a salt spray environment was studied with an electrochemical workstation. The surface morphology and cross sectional morphology of the original and shot peen-formed sample were studied by a scanning electron microscope. After shot peen forming, the salt spray corrosion resistance of 2024 aluminum alloy was worsened (the corrosion rates of the original alloy and the shot peen-formed alloy were 0.10467 mg/(cm²·h) and 0.27333 mg/(cm²·h), respectively, when the salt spray corrosion time was 5 h). The radius of capacitive reactance arc of the sample subjected to shot peen forming was smaller than that of the original sample. When the salt spray corrosion time was 5 h, the doping density (N_A) of the original alloy was 2.5128 × 10⁻¹³/cm³. After shot peen forming, the N_A of the alloy increased to 15 × 10⁻¹³/cm³. For the shot peen-formed sample, pitting corrosion first occurred in the crater lap zone and became severe with salt spray time. The cross sectional morphology of both original and the shot peen-formed samples shows that severe intergranular corrosion occurred in the salt spray environment. However, for the original sample, the intergranular corrosion distribution was lamellar. For shot peen-formed sample, the intergranular corrosion distribution was network. Full article

The crankshaft is one of the core components of a Rotate Vector (RV) reducer. The fatigue life of the RV reducer is severely hindered by fatigue failure on the eccentric cylindrical surface of the crankshaft. The hardness gradients and residual stress in the crankshaft, associated with machining operations, exert an enormous impact on the rolling contact fatigue (RCF). In this work, a finite element method (FEM)-based three-dimensional elasto-plastic contact model is established to calculate the stress–strain field by taking hardness gradients and initial residual stress into account. The RCF characteristics of an RV reducer crankshaft is investigated by applying modified Fatemi–Socie (FS) multiaxial fatigue criterion. The results indicate that initial residual stress plays an influential role in the fatigue damage by altering the distribution of the maximum normal stress near the contact surface. The modified FS fatigue criterion could better consider the effect of initial residual stress and the shear stress, which significantly improves the prediction accuracy of the contact fatigue life model. The contact fatigue performance could be considerably improved by designing appropriate shot peening parameters to obtain optimized residual stress distribution. Therefore, the technique presented may serve as an important guideline for the anti-fatigue design of an RV reducer crankshaft. Full article

Low-pressure cold spraying has gained much significance for its good economy in recent years. However, compared with high-pressure cold spraying, the unsatisfactory performance of coatings prepared by this method is a key problem restricting its further development. To improve the properties of the coating without incorporating severe conditions, the paper proposed an original shot-peening-assisted low-pressure cold-spraying method (i.e., SP-LPCS). By proceeding with cold spraying and shot peening alternately, SP-LPCS was proved to enhance the mechanical property of the coating effectively. Mixed particles of Zn, Al, and Al₂O₃ were adopted as the coating powder. Effects of shot-peening pressure, flow rate, and shot size on the micromorphology and the microhardness variance were studied. Results shows that the thickness of the plastic deformation layer stabilizes as the impact time increases to 6. The microscopic simulation of the deformation shows that according to the different metal characteristics of the powder, brittle grains fracture while plastic grains go through deformation and refinement. Meanwhile, the porosity decreases greatly after the impacts, resulting in a higher denseness of the coating. Several factors mutually contribute to the performance improvement of the coating. The microhardness of the material was increased after SP-LPCS, and obvious strengthening belts were observed, with the highest microhardness being 90.93Hv. Full article

Surface nanocrystallization of metals and alloys via high-frequency ultrasonic shot peening (USP) can significantly increase the mechanical properties of the materials. However, the relationship between the external process parameters and the internal microstructure of the materials is still unclear and an accurate numerical model to simulate the USP process is urgently required for better control of the grain refinement process. In this study, we successfully realized surface nanocrystallization of 316L stainless steel using USP with an ultrasonic frequency and amplitude of 20 kHz and 50 μm, respectively. The microstructure evaluation of 316L stainless steel during USP was revealed. We established a finite element numerical model to simulate the high-frequency USP process and calculated the plastic strain and stress distribution of 316L stainless steel during the grain refinement process. We investigated the effects of the ultrasonic frequency, working distance, and ultrasonic amplitude on the plastic strain and stress distribution on the materials using the finite element simulation method. The dynamic behavior of the shot during the USP process was studied using a high-speed camera, and the FE simulation results agreed well with the experimental results. We also investigated the impact of multiple shots during the USP process by the high-speed camera observation and FE simulation. Research results indicate that high-frequency USP is an effective method to obtain large-scale bulk nanocrystalline materials and the finite element simulation can help materials scientists and engineers to better understand the relationship between the process parameters and microstructure evaluation of 316L stainless steel. Full article