Analysis of the effects of isothermal aging and Laser Shock Peening on the flow properties, fatigue crack growth, and fracture toughness of Inconel 718

Laser Shock Peening (LSP) is a surface treatment that improves the fatigue life and fatigue strength of compo-nents by inducing a shallow layer that is characterized by compressive residual stress and plastic deformation. This study investigates the use of LSP on Inconel 718 (IN718) on the fatigue crack growth (FCG) and fracture toughness (FT) of as-received (AR), solution-treated (SOL), and samples aged for 0.5, 4, and 100 h. Experimental results on aged samples established that the hardness of samples 0.5 and 4 h increased due to the precipitation of ?' and ??phases while in the 100 h sample the hardness decreases due to the presence of coarser ??phase and intergranular 6 -phase. These microstructural features impacted the plastic flow behavior of the different samples which was adequately described using a two-fitting approach to the Voce equation. While thermal aging accelerated the FCG of aged samples, the plastic flow and residual stress induced by the LSP significantly reduces the effect of thermal aging, by reducing the FCG rate and increasing the FT of the IN718 aged samples. Finally, results from EBSD analysis showed that the LSP-induced plastic strain depends on the microstructural transformations that occurred during the aging treatment.

Automated summary

Laser Shock Peening (LSP) is a surface treatment method that improves the fatigue life and strength of components by inducing compressive stress and plastic deformation. This study investigates the effects of LSP on the fatigue crack growth (FCG) and fracture toughness (FT) of Inconel 718 (IN718) samples aged for different durations. The experimental results show that LSP reduces the impact of thermal aging on FCG and increases the FT of aged IN718 samples.