Research about the Effect of Ultrasonic Impact on the Fatigue Life of Butt Weld Joint of 16MnR Steel

Surface treatment was carried out on the butt joint weldment of 16MnR steel by using the HJ-II-type ultrasonic impact machine. The ultrasonic impact current is 1.2A, the impact amplitude is 30 microns and ultrasonic impacting time is 30min and 60 min,respectively. Fatigue experiment was carried out for both treated specimen and un-treated specimen. The fatigue fracture observed with the scanning electron microscope of 6360LA type. The experimental results show that the fatigue life of the butt joint weldment of 16MnR steel can be significantly improved through the ultrasonic impact treatment. The main reason is that the ultrasonic impact can reduces the stress concentration in the weld toe, decrease the tensile stress, and even change to compressive stress in the weldment, the grain size in the welded joint can be refined. The longer the impact time, the greater increasing range of fatigue life will be. Compared to the sample without treatment, its fatigue life was increased 375.22%, 521.24%, respectively, when the impact time was 30, 60min, respectively.