Abstract
Surface treatment is crucial for the component to function properly in many practical working situations. As an alternative of shot peening, abrasive waterjet peening is an advantageous method to improve various mechanical properties such as hardness, fatigue resistance, corrosion stability, etc. of the component surface. In order to investigate the surface roughness and its effect on fatigue performance in abrasive waterjet peening, simulation and experimental works on aluminum specimens were conducted in this study. Two different surface roughness indices and their dependencies on various processing parameters were analyzed. Fatigue performances of specimens under different processing conditions were also evaluated. The results indicated that shot velocity is the most influential factor on surface roughness under the involved conditions. Higher surface roughness induced by intense shot intensity will negatively affect the fatigue performance of the processed specimen.