Identification of Influencing Factors in Machine Hammer Peening with Consideration of Lubricant Influences

Lightweight construction and performance requirements in the automotive industry have resulted in increased power density. At the same time, this increases the load on the workpieces. To counteract the resulting wear, either a more wear-resistant material may be applied or the functional surface may be specifically modified against wear. Machine hammer peening (MHP) is a process for such a targeted adjustment of the functional surface and the surface area properties. MHP is a mechanical surface treatment, which increases the wear resistance of the workpieces by introducing residual compressive stresses and work hardening as well as by smoothing or structuring the surface. To ensure an accurate adjustment of the surface properties, the influencing factors (material, process parameters and lubricant) and their interactions must be sufficiently well studied and understood. In particular, the influence of the lubricant on the surface area properties has not yet been adequately investigated. The objective of the work presented in this paper was to provide a deeper insight into the influence of the type of lubricant on the resulting surface properties in terms of roughness, residual stresses and hardness. The lubricant’s influence was investigated using a partial factorial experimental design. Additional factors investigated, besides the choice of lubricant, were stroke, distance of indentation and step over distance. The results show a strong influence of the lubricant selection, especially on the resulting surface roughness. For the same process parameters, a deviation of 540 % in the resulting surface roughness was measured between two surfaces machined with different lubricants.