Further improvements in some properties of shot peened components using the burnishing process

Shot peening and burnishing are considered to be cold working processes, where both processes are used to improve some metallic surface properties, due to the plastic deformation induced into these surfaces. The first process causes an increase in the roughness, while the other, in opposition to the first process, improves the smoothness of metallic surfaces. The present work is an attempt to apply the burnishing process onto shot peened components, in order to decrease the roughness of the metallic surface caused by the shot peening process. From the results obtained it was found that the burnishing process not only improves the surface finish, but it also introduces further improvements in surface hardness, fatigue strength and corrosion resistance for the two non-ferrous metals considered in this work, namely aluminium and brass. Accordingly, it can be suggested that burnishing of shot peened components may be used with benefits in industry for further improvements in the properties of metallic surfaces. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.