Effect of Laser Peening without Coating on 316L austenitic stainless steel

Laser Peening without Coating (LPwC) is an innovative surface modification technique used for the in-suit preventive maintenance of nuclear reactor components using frequency doubled (green) laser. The advantage of LPwC is that the laser required for this technique is in milli joule range and the processes can perform in aqueous environment. This paper discussed the effect of LPwC on 316L austenitic stainless steel using low energy Nd: YAG laser with various laser pulse density. The base specimen and laser peened specimen were subjected to surface residual stress, surface morphology, micro hardness and potentiodynamic polarization studies. The laser peened surface exhibit significant improvement in surface compressive residual stress. The depth profile of micro hardness revealed higher strain hardening on laser peened specimens. Though corrosion potential reported an anodic shift, current density is found to be increased after LPwC for the specimen peened with higher pulse density.