Investigation of wet shot peening on microstructural evolution and tensile-tensile fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Ti–6Al–4V (TC4) alloy was treated by wet shot peening (WP) using ceramic beads compared with dry shot peening (SP). The effects of shot peening on surface integrity, microstructural evolution, fatigue crack initiation behavior and tensile-tensile fatigue performance were investigated applying multiple characterization techniques. The result exhibited that the surface plastic deformation caused by WP and SP treatment resulted in microstructure changes near the surface. Surface morphology was distinctly changed by shot peening treatment. The roughness value increased from 0.596 μm (Ra) to 1.594 μm (Ra). Microhardness gradients and compressive residual stress (CRS) distributions along the depth were induced by shot peening. The maximum hardness reached 373.5 HV, 407.8 HV and 445.3 HV. The maximum value of CRS reached 884 MPa, 1038 MPa and 1207 MPa with the corresponding depth at 21 μm, 25 μm and 40 μm. The fatigue life was significantly improved by shot peening treatment. Cracks tended to initiate at the subsurface layer instead of the treated surface after shot peening. The reason for crack initiation position altering was tentatively explained by the CRS stable zone. The competition mechanism between the surface stress concentration and local strengthening factors were discussed based on the analysis of stress concentration factor, Kt. [Display omitted] •Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy was treated by wet shot peening (WP) and dry shot peening (SP).•Effect of shot peening on microstructure evolution and surface integrity were analyzed.•Fatigue property of specimens was significantly improved by shot peening treatment.•Fatigue cracks tend to initiate at subsurface instead of the treated surface after shot peening.•Competition mechanism between surface stress concentration and local strengthening factors was concluded.