Effect of Shot Peening Process on Rolling Contact Fatigue Performance of EN 31 Alloy Steel

This paper aims to study the effect of shot peening on the Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) life of EN 31 Steel subjected to a pure rolling condition. Tests were carried out under lubricated contact conditions using a two-disc on-cylinder test rig. The orthogonal stress distributions and depth of deformation zones under static loading conditions were calculated using an elastic model by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method. Shot peening increased the surface hardness by 20 % and imparted residual stress, which resulted in a 2-fold improvement of life. The depth of origin of the crack from the sub-surface was found to be in good agreement with the depth of maximum shear region obtained from the finite element model.