Conventional shot peening treatment effects on thermal fatigue crack growth and failure mechanisms of a solid solution alloy

This study presents the effects of conventional shot peening as a surface post-treatment method on the fatigue crack growth behavior and failure mechanism of a solid solution alloy used in the flat seal component under thermal fatigue conditions. The study employs a combination of experimental tests and finite element simulations to evaluate the effect of shot peening on thermal fatigue crack growth behavior. The corrected J-integral and Paris model are used to calculate the stress intensity factor and predict the thermal fatigue crack growth behavior, respectively. Additionally, the ZENCRACK method is employed to predict thermal fatigue life. The results indicate that shot peening induces compressive residual stress, leading to a decreased distribution of thermal stress, particularly along the crack propagation path. The simulated fatigue life curve obtained by ZENCRACK demonstrated a good agreement between the simulated and experimental crack growth results. The incorporation of shot peening caused a significant reduction in the rate of thermal fatigue crack growth, and the simulated stress intensity factor analysis revealed an increase during the heating stage. Consequently, the thermal fatigue crack propagated during the heating-up process. SEM evaluation reveals that the shot peening post-treatment impacts both thermal fatigue crack initiation and propagation. Furthermore, the failure mode of shot-peened specimens involves inter- and trans-granular cracking, while non-shot-peened specimens exhibit trans-granular cracking.