Experimental investigation and estimation of compressive residual stress of ball burnished rare earth based magnesium alloy

The present study focuses on the experimental investigation and optimization of compressive residual stress on ball burnished Mg Ze41A alloy. The optimum compressive residual stress value of -182 MPa is obtained at burnishing force of 50 N, speed of 1200 r/min, feed of 150 mm/min and 4 number of passes. Burnishing force and speed are found to be the most sensitive parameters in affecting the compressive residual stress, followed by number of passes and burnishing feed. The demarcation lines in residual stress-burnishing maps of Mg Ze41A alloy are non-parallel and non-uniform, indicating significant interactions among burnishing parameters. Ball burnishing process imparted desired amount of work hardening, which resulted in homogenized (sigma(x)(1) = sigma(x)(2)) and isotropic stress (sigma(1) = sigma(2)) state. Additionally, the fuzzy logic model has been deployed to estimate the compressive residual stress values at different burnishing conditions. Fuzzy logic model estimated the results with an error of 6.11%. The results demonstrate that ball burnishing process is an effective method in inducing compressive residual stresses on Mg alloy. The outcome of this study can be of great help in enhancing the fatigue performance of small size products.