An approach to reduce stress and defects: a hybrid process of laser cladding deposition and shot peening

Purpose Laser cladding deposition is limited in industrial application by the micro-defects and residual tensile stress for the thermal forming process, leading to lower fatigue strength compared with that of the forging. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to reduce stress and defects. Design/methodology/approach A hybrid process of laser cladding deposition and shot peening is presented to transform surface strengthening technology to the overall strengthening technology through layer-by-layer forming and achieve enhancement. Findings The results show that the surface stress of the sample formed by the hybrid process changed from tensile stress to compressive stress, and the surface compressive stress introduced could reach more than four times the surface tensile stress of the laser cladding sample. At the same time, internal micro-defects such as pores were reduced. The porosity of the sample formed by the hybrid process was reduced by 90.12% than that of the laser cladding sample, and the surface roughness was reduced by 43.16%. Originality/value The authors believe that the hybrid process proposed in this paper can significantly expand the potential application of laser cladding deposition by solving its limitations, promoting its efficiency and applicability in practical cases.