Effects of particle collision treatments on fatigue strength of Ti-6Al-4V alloy with polishing marks

In this study, we attempted to nullify the harmful influences of processing marks on the fatigue strength of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by particle collision treatments. As the surface treatments, fine particle bombarding (FPB) and shot peening (SP) were applied to form hardened layers and introduce compressive residual stress. The surface of the objective material was polished to a mirror surface to eliminate the influences of machining on specimens and was then grinded with emery papers (#80) to make uniform processing marks. After the particle collision treatments, the surface conditions, hardness distributions and residual stress were systematically examined, and their relationships with the fatigue strength were considered in detail. On observation of the surfaces, the processing marks were eliminated by the particle collision treatments. At the same time, the surface hardness was increased and high compressive residual stress was introduced. As a result, the fatigue strength was markedly improved by the treatments beyond the level of the material with the processing marks without deterioration of the mechanical properties. The improvement rates of the fatigue strength were high, at 75% by FPB treatment and 58% by SP treatment.