Effect of cyclic hardening on fatigue performance of slide burnished components made of low‐alloy medium carbon steel

The slide burnishing process causes cyclic loading of the surface being treated, which provokes cyclic hardening. Using a forced‐controlled indentation test, the sixth “loading‐unloading” cycle was stabilised. The effect of the number of passes and the cyclic loading coefficient (CLC) on the fatigue performance of slide burnished specimens was investigated. Rotating bending fatigue tests were conducted using nine groups of hourglass shaped specimens, which were slide burnished through a different number of passes and CLC values. A stabilised cycle of the surface layer achieved with six passes, lead to largest fatigue limit, whereas the CLC exerted negligible influence on the fatigue performance. The observed phenomenon was explained through different residual stress relaxation rates, due to the rotating bending load, as well as with the obtained surface layer microstructure. The residual stress relaxation was investigated through rotating bending fatigue tests, using cylindrical fatigue specimens, followed by X‐ray stress analysis.