Evaluating surface deformation and near surface strain hardening resulting from shot peening a tempered martensitic steel and application to low cycle fatigue

•Cumulative shot peening plastic strain profiles were determined by various methods.•These were electron backscatter diffraction, microhardness and X-ray diffraction.•Plastic strain profiles were used to infer the resulting yield strength profile.•Yield strength gradients can be included in fatigue life assessment methods.•The effect of low cycle fatigue on the plastic strain profile was investigated.

The plastic deformation resulting from shot peening treatments applied to the ferritic heat resistant steel FV448 has been investigated. Two important effects have been quantified: surface roughness and strain hardening. 2D and 3D tactile and optical techniques for determining surface roughness amplitude parameters have been investigated; it was found that whilst Ra and Sa were consistent, Sz was generally higher than Rz due to the increased probability of finding the worst case surface feature. Three different methods for evaluating the plastic strain profile have been evaluated with a view to establishing the variation in yield strength near the surface of a shot peened component. Microhardness, X-ray diffraction (XRD) line broadening and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) local misorientation techniques were applied to both uniaxially deformed calibration samples of known plastic strain and samples shot peened at intensities varying from 4A to 18A to establish the variation in plastic strain and hence the variation in yield strength. The results from the three methods were compared; XRD and EBSD profiles were found to be the most similar with microhardness profiles extending much deeper into the sample. Changes in the measured plastic strain profile after exposure to low cycle fatigue and the correlation of these changes with the cyclic stress–strain behaviour of the material are also discussed with a view to assessing the importance of the dislocation profile in component life assessment procedures.