Effect of Oblique Laser shock peening on the Wear Resistance of Nitrided H13 Steel Components

Abstract This article describes the adoption of an oblique Laser shock peening modification process to perform surface composite modification on nitrided H13 steel. The modified layers are characterized by element distribution, microhardness, surface microstructure, residual stress, and wear morphology. The wear properties of the modified layers were researched through a ball-on-disc (BOD) wear test. The research results showed that oblique Laser shock peening constructs a composite modified layer on the surfaces of nitrided H13 steel components, refining the grain size and significantly improving the hardness and residual stress. However, as the incident angle increases, the magnitude of the increase in hardness and residual stress decreases. The wear test results showed that the wear mechanisms of H13 steel components before and after modification are both abrasive wear and oxidative wear. However, the presence of the composite modified layer helps reduce the depth of surface abrasive wear by 46.3% compared to untreated components. Additionally, the wear properties decrease with an increase in the laser incidence angle.