Blade shot peening

Shot Peening

 

Shot peening is a process that enhances the quality and performance of metallic mechanical components subjected to cyclical loads or friction stresses. The process is performed by projecting hard spherical media at high velocity, which hardens metallic surfaces and induces compressive stress on their superficial layers. 

 

The benefits of shot peening include a dramatic increase of resistance to fatigue and stress corrosion. This process also can be used to shape or straighten flat metallic parts by deflection effect, which is known as peen forming. Saint-Gobain ZirPro offers an extended range of ceramic shots for Shot-Peening. Zirshot® has been the industrial reference for ceramic media, with its unique material structure, intermediate density, optimal shape and tight size ranges.

More recently, ZirPro launched Zirshot® HDC and Microshot YZ in order to broaden the peening capabilities of ceramic shots towards the upper ranges of Almen intensities. Thanks to significantly higher density and hardness, Zirshot HDC and Microshot YZ ceramic shots enable to achieve the highest and deepest compressive stresses by shot peening of new generations of mechanical components made of hard steel and tough superalloys while preserving their surface integrity.

These beads conform to the most stringent automotive and aerospace shot peening standards (like SAE J1830, AMS 2431/7-9).

Peening with Zirshot ceramic shots delivers outstanding benefits:

  • High level of compressive stress near the surface
  • Smooth surface finish minimizes crack initiation
  • Very low material abrasion maintains accuracy of fine geometries
  • High rebound allows uniform coverage of intricate geometries
  • Very low level of particle embedment
  • No need for decontamination post-treatment for non-ferrous alloys
  • Treatment of hard metals
  • Cost savings on downstream processes (coating, polishing)
Residual stress profile on Hard Steel
 
Peening auto gears

These benefits, combined with ZirPro’s shot peening processing expertise, have accelerated Zirpro’s expansion into new applications. For example, the use of Zirshot has allowed manufacturers to design and produce automotive parts with lower weight and improved fatigue resistance, which leads to reduced fuel consumption.