Improvement of mechanical properties and fatigue life by shot peening process on ASTM A516 Grade 70 steel

ASTM A516 Grade 70 is widely used in the industrial sector as it provides very good mechanical properties in tough conditions. The main usage of this material is in moderate and low operating services. This paper focuses on the effect of shot peening process on ASTM A516 Grade 70 on improving the mechanical properties and fatigue life of the material. Samples have been shot peened with steel shot to induce compressive residual stress. Hardness, tensile and fatigue test as well as microstructure were done on the samples before and after shot peening process to study the effects on mechanical properties. The result shows that there is an increment in every test after shot peening process. There is a slight increment of 0.47% in hardness value, 0.39% increment in tensile strength and 6.78% increment in fatigue life of the material after shot peening process applied. The slight increment in every result was due to the low intensity of the shot peening process. Result also shows that the shot peening process compressed the molecules closer to each other as can be seen under SEM. Therefore it was proven that in this study, there is a very significant improvement in mechanical properties and fatigue life by shot peening process on ASTM A516 Grade 70 Steel