Dynamic numerical simulation of plastic deformation and residual stress in shot peening of aluminium alloy

Shot peening is a cold surface treatment employed to induce residual stress field in a metallic component beneficial for increasing its fatigue strength. The experimental investigation of parameters involved in shot peening process is very complex as well as costly. The most attractive alternative is the explicit dynamics finite element (FE) analysis capable of determining the shot peening process parameters subject to the selection of a proper material´s constitutive model and numerical technique. In this study, Ansys / LS-Dyna software was used to simulate the impact of steel shots of various sizes on an aluminium alloy plate described with strain rate dependent elasto-plastic material model. The impacts were carried out at various incident velocities. The influence of shot velocity and size on the plastic deformation, compressive residual stress and force-time response were investigated. The results exhibited that increasing the shot velocity and size resulted in an increase in plastic deformation of the aluminium target. However, a little effect of the shot velocity and size was observed on the magnitude of target´s subsurface compressive residual stress. The obtained results were close to the published ones, and the numerical models demonstrated the capability of the method to capture the pattern of residual stress and plastic deformation observed experimentally in aluminium alloys. The study can be quite helpful in determining and selecting the optimal shot peening parameters to achieve specific level of plastic deformation and compressive residual stress in the aluminium alloy parts especially compressor blades.