Influenceofdecarburizationonthefatiguebehaviourofshot.PDF

Influence of decarburization on the fatigue behaviour of shot peened spring steels K. DALAEI 1, J. HÖIJER 2, G. ÅKERSTRÖM 2, B. KARLSSON 1 L.-E. SVENSSON 2 1 Department of Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-4 12 96 Göteborg, Sweden 2 Materials Technology, Volvo Powertrain Sweden, SE-405 08 Göteborg, Sweden ABSTRACT The influence of decarburization on the high cycle fatigue behaviour of shot peened spring steel was investigated. The material studied was a quenched and tempered carbon steel (0.55C, 1.9Si and 0.9 Mn). The specimens were decarburized to depths of 0.40 and 0.50 mm. Shot peening with full coverage then took place, leading to a thickness of the compressed surface layer of about 0.25 mm. The specimens were tested in bending fatigue to fatigue lives in the range N = 1·105 to 3·106 cycles. f Following fatigue limits were then achieved: 655 – 675 MPa for the two decarburized levels and 880 MPa for the non-decarburized specimens. Crack nucleation generally took place in the very surface zone. Stress relaxation during fatigue loading and surface roughness of the specimens were measured and correlated to the fatigue behaviour. KEY WORDS Decarburization, fatigue strength, residual stresses, shot peening. INTRODUCTION The influence of surface decarburization on fatigue properties is an important practical problem for many vehicle components. Different mechanical surface treatment methods have been examined to improve the fatigue durability of surface decarburized steels. Shot peening is considered as one of the major methods to improve fatigue durability of spring steels . Decarburization at the surface of a component corresponds to a layer of lower yield