Effect of Decarburization on the Residual Stresses Produced by Shot Peening in Automotive Leaf Springs

The shot peening is used in the leaf springs manufacturing process for producing a compressive residual stress field (CRSF) at and near the surface that improves the fatigue resistance. The resulting CRSF is influenced by the surface ferrite thickness associated with the decarburization. Hence, this work aims to extend the knowledge on the influence of the decarburization on the CRSF for the given shot peening conditions. A study on the laboratory scale was conducted for an SAE 5160 steel grade used in the automotive industry. Next, specimens with different decarburization depths were treated using industrial shot peening, and the resulting CRSF was characterized. The CRSF was found to be influenced by the decarburization depth. It is assumed that the elastic deformation mechanism is predominant at low decarburization depths, followed by a zone in which both the elastic and plastic deformation have competing mechanisms that contribute to the CRSF, and at higher decarburization depths, the dominant mechanism is plastic deformation. The values for σ_srs and σ_mcrs decrease as the decarburized depth increases, and suitable CRSFs were obtained below a decarburization depth of 120 µm in industrial leaves. Furthermore, the prediction based on expressions correlating the measured variables was good in these leaves.