Shot Peening Effects on Abrasive Wear Behavior of Medium Carbon Steel

Abstract

Effect of shot peening on high stress abrasive wear behavior of medium carbon steel (AISI 6150 steel) at varying applied load and abrasive size has been studied. The shot peening leads to sub-surface work hardening and surface denting. The extent of work hardening and denting increases with increase in shot peening intensity. The experiments are performed on shot peening machine under two conditions of applied load, abrasive size and shot peening intensity as 7 N, 90 µm and 0.486 mm Almen “A” and 1 N, 30 µm and 0.117 mm Almen “A”, respectively. The wear rate decreases by 20–30% due to shot peening to a level of 0.117 mm Almen “A” from the un-peened state. Further increase in peening intensity does not lead to any significant improvement in wear resistance. The wear rate decreases with increase in sliding distance due to work hardening and degradation of abrasive media.