Impact Pressure Evaluation of Water Jet Peening on Typical Concave Surfaces: Theoretical and Finite Element Analysis

Abstract Water jet peening (WJP), a surface modification technique, can use the impact pressure induced by shock waves to introduce compressive residual stress in the surface of metal parts, thereby improving the fatigue life of metal parts, especially has broad application prospects in strengthening the concave surface area of metal parts. The impact pressure of the concave surface is different compared with the flat surface due to the effects of geometrical factors on the shock wave released. In this work, a mathematical model for calculating the peak pressure in the initial contact area of the concave surface is developed, and the effects of geometric factors (opening angle of V surface α and spherical radius R) and WJP parameters (jet velocity v and jet diameter d) on the peak pressure are analyzed by using finite element simulation models of WJP on concave V-shaped surface, concave spherical surface, V-groove surface, spherical groove surface, and spherical groove surface established with the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) algorithm of abaqus. A mechanism of impact pressure evaluation of the concave surface is developed to explain the peak pressure results obtained from finite element models. The results show that the peak pressure is mainly determined by α and v, while d does not affect the peak pressure for a concave V-shaped or V-groove surface. The peak pressure is mainly determined by R, v, and d for a concave spherical or spherical groove surface.