Research on Laser Peening of TC21 Titanium Alloy with High Energy Laser

Laser peening (LP) also known as laser shock processing (LSP), is a surface enhancement technique that induces intensive plastic deformation, high dislocation density and deeper compressive residual stress to improve the surface performance of materials. The microhardness, surface profiles, roughness, and the residual stress of TC21 alloy were tested by LSP with high energy laser. The results show that the microhardness of the shocked area is improved apparently compared with that of unshocked area. The magnitude of dent is related with the diameter and the distribution of laser spot. The roughness Ra of shocked area is less than 0.8 μm. The compressive residual stress is enhanced greatly. The investigations show that the technology of LSP could further improve the performance of TC21 alloy.