Influences of Shot Peening Parameters on Mechanical Properties and Fatigue Behavior of 316 L Steel: Experimental, Taguchi Method and Response Surface Methodology

Severe plastic deformation methods like shot peening (SP) are known as efficient surface treatments and grain refining processes which afford more effective properties in metallic materials. In the current research, a comprehensive study was carried out on SP of AISI 316 L steel. It included 42 different SP treatments with a wide range of Almen intensities of 12–27 A and various coverage degrees (100%–1500%). Several experimental tests were conducted in order to explore the microstructure, grain size, surface topography, hardness, wettability, and residual stresses of the specimens. Next, two different approaches including Taguchi method (TM), and response surface methodology (RSM) were deployed for modeling, analysis, and optimization. RSM and TM were used to examine the influence of the effective parameters. Based on the optimized results, the fatigue behavior of the selected treatments was investigated experimentally in both smooth and notched specimens.