Study on the process of abrasive water jet peening for 316L stainless steel

Abrasive water jet peening, which integrates the characteristics of water jet peening and shot peening, is a potential process for surface strengthening of metal materials. In this paper, the peening process of 316L stainless steel by abrasive water jet was studied in this paper. The effects of standoff distance and traverse speed on peening quality and efficiency were analyzed. On this basis, the selection strategy of these two parameters was clarified. The results show that the core zone, transition zone, and minute effect zone were formed at the impact part due to the change of the energy of abrasive water jet. Among them, the peening quality of the core zone is the best. With the increase of standoff distance and traverse speed, the peening quality of the core zone decreased, but the efficiency was greatly improved. In practical application, the standoff distance and traverse speed can be set according to the actual needs. From the perspective of efficiency, on the basis of meeting the needs of peening quality, the standoff distance and traverse speed should be set to a high level.