Tribological behavior of shot peened/austempered AISI 5160 steel

In order to enhance component performance, material sustainability, and service life, this study presents the tribological behavior of different austempered AISI 5160 steel specimens with shot peening. All the specimens were austempered for 2 h, then followed by shot peening to study the effect of shot peening and bainite morphologies on the wear and friction behavior. The microstructures, hardness, and residual stress of specimens were studied by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Vickers micro-hardness, 3D-profiler, and X-ray diffraction. Shot peening produced higher hardness on soft austempered specimens, rather than on hard austempered specimens. Compared with non-shot peened austempered disk specimens, the wear reduction of disk specimens with shot peening is up to 73%.