INFLUENCE OF LASER SHOCK PEENING ON THE TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED SS316L

This work examines the impact of heat treatment and laser shock peening (LSP) on the wear behavior of selectively laser-melted SS316L parts. The investigation focuses on significant changes in residual stress, microhardness, surface roughness, 2D wear depth, nanoindentation, and wear behavior at room temperature. LSP is a surface modification technique used to increase high hardness and wear resistance (WR). LSP significantly enhanced the material performance, increasing microhardness by 15.5% in the as-printed (PS) sample and 21.4% in the heat-treated (HT) sample, and improving WR by 20.18% and 18.5%, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed only the [Formula: see text] austenite phase, indicating no new phase formation after LSP. The reduction in crystallite size in LSP samples is mainly due to increased microstrain and dislocation density caused by the high-energy impacts. LSP transformed the tensile residual stress into beneficial compressive residual stress. LSP improved tribological behavior, reducing the coefficient of friction (COF) by 51% and the specific wear rate (SWR) by 38% in the PS sample. HT samples showed a reduced COF of 9.35% and SWR of 12%, indicating enhanced surface durability and WR. These improvements enhance the material’s suitability for use in aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and marine applications.