Surface Treatment Techniques for Enhanced Fatigue Performance

Surface treatment techniques have become pivotal in extending the fatigue life of metallic components across aerospace, automotive, energy and biomedical sectors. These methods chiefly aim to introduce beneficial compressive residual stresses, refine near-surface microstructures and reduce stress concentrations at the surface. Traditional shot peening employs spherical shots to plastically deform and harden the surface, while laser shock peening uses high-energy laser pulses to generate shock waves that penetrate deeper. Ultrasonic surface rolling applies high-frequency mechanical impacts to produce a highly work-hardened layer. More recently, fluid-based processes such as abrasive waterjet peening and cavitation water jet peening have gained traction for their ability to treat complex geometries and generate graded stress profiles without altering component tolerances. Fine particle peening extends this concept by using sub-millimetre media to treat intricate features. Collectively, these approaches share common outcomes—compressive residual stresses, grain refinement and reduced surface roughness—culminating in notable improvements in fatigue limit, crack initiation resistance and overall service life.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Research from all publishers

A novel inverse-modelling approach for abrasive waterjet peening has been developed to prescribe custom compressive residual stress distributions on nickel-based superalloy surfaces. By optimising pump pressure, traverse speed and jet overlap in a combined numerical–experimental framework, uniform and non-uniform stress states were achieved with less than 15% deviation from targets, while microstructural analysis confirmed grain refinement without surface cracking. Cavitation water jet peening of 7075 aluminium alloy at varying scanning speeds has revealed that lower traverse rates intensify plastic deformation, enhance subsurface compressive stresses and increase microhardness. An optimal speed range was identified for maximising fatigue strength, with work-hardened layers extending several hundred micrometres beneath the surface. Fine particle peening using hydroxyapatite shots on a β-titanium alloy has demonstrated the formation of a thin ceramic transfer layer alongside high compressive residual stress. Rotating bending fatigue tests show that long-life fatigue strength is substantially improved, though initiation at surface defects in short-life regimes highlights the importance of process parameter control.

Surface Treatment Techniques for Enhanced Fatigue Performance publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in surface treatment techniques for enhanced fatigue performance across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Abrasive waterjet peening: Mechanical surface treatment using high-velocity abrasive-laden waterjets to induce compressive residual stress and plastic deformation.

Cavitation water jet peening: Technique utilising high-speed waterjets that generate collapsing bubbles to impart compressive stresses on a surface.

Fine particle peening: Surface treatment employing microscopic particles to impart compressive stresses and work hardening at a fine scale.

Compressive residual stress: Beneficial internal stress in a surface layer that opposes applied tensile loads and delays crack initiation.

Grain refinement: Reduction of crystallographic grain size in a metal surface region to improve strength, hardness and fatigue resistance.

References

1. Modelling and experimental study of surface treatment in abrasive waterjet peening of Nickel-based superalloy: Inverse problem. Materials & Design (2022).
2. Performance Analysis of 7075 Aluminum Alloy Strengthened by Cavitation Water Jet Peening at Different Scanning Speeds. Crystals (2022).
3. Effect of Fine Particle Peening Using Hydroxyapatite Particles on Rotating Bending Fatigue Properties of β-Type Titanium Alloy †. Applied Sciences (2021).