Complex X-ray study of effects of mechanical surface treatment in shot-peened steels

Beneficial residual stress (RS) level and strain hardening are very important properties of surface layers obtained after shot penning. Both characteristic features have non-uniform distribution and their description is important for defining the achieved surface layers. The level and sign of residual stresses are influential parameters for mechanical properties of materials and for the structural behaviour of machine parts during external loading and exploitation. The aim of the contribution is to present acomparative X-ray diffraction analysis of residual stresses in shot-peened steel samples. Contemporaneous application of two experimental approaches, i.e. classical sin^2psi technique for depth profile stress determination (Czech Technical University in Prague) and modified g-sin^2psi method (AGH-University of Science and Technology, Cracow) provides complex structural characterisation of surface layers. The results obtained in both cooperating X-ray diffraction laboratories are in a good agreement and show promise.