Influence of carburization followed by shot peening on fatigue property of 20CrMnTi steel

In this study, the influences of carburization (followed by quenching and low-temperature tempering) followed by shot peening on “apparent” fatigue limits of 20CrMnTi steel specimens were studied and quantitatively analyzed according to the microstructure changes, induced residual stress fields, and position of fatigue crack sources, as well as a micro-meso-process theory for fatigue crack initiation previously proposed by the authors (Ref 6–8). The experimental results show that, although the hardness of the surface layer of carburized specimens is much higher than that of the pseudo-carburized specimens, the improvement effect of carburization on the apparent fatigue limits of specimens is uncertain. It should be related to the possible formation of nonmartensitic microstructure in the surface layer of carburized specimen. After the shot peening, the fatigue limit of specimens was improved and rose to a level about 40% higher than that of the pseudo-carburized specimens. Scanning electron microscopy fractographic analyses show that the fatigue sources, which indicate the weakest link of specimens, in pseudo-carburized and ascarburized specimens are all located at the surface, while after shot-peening, they appear in the interior beneath the hardened layer.