Residual stress field and thermal relaxation behavior of shot-peened TC4-DT titanium alloy

Abstract Shot peening is an effective surface treatment method, which can improve the fatigue properties of metallic materials. In the present paper, the residual compressive stress field induced in TC4-DT titanium alloy under different shot peening conditions and the thermal relaxation behaviors of shot-peened TC4-DT were discussed. The shot peening can cause residual compressive stress on the material surface compared to un-peened materials. The subsurface residual stress distributions of original and shot-peened specimens were measured by an X-ray diffraction method. The residual compressive stress profiles accord with the characteristic curve of residual stress field. The maximum residual compressive stress is located at subsurface layer. Surface roughness also increases with increasing shot peening intensity. There is relaxation of residual compressive stress during temperature. Thermal relaxation behavior of residual stress was studied at 150 and 300 °C with different ageing time. The residual stress relaxation is influenced by temperature and time during ageing. Thermal relaxation of residual stress is a thermal recovery process. The relaxation process of thermal residual stress is analyzed by applying the Zener–Wert–Avrami function.