Surface textures in engineering materials not only affect the reflective properties and aesthetics but if properly designed can modulate surface‐related properties such as wettability, fatigue, wear, corrosion, and scratch resistance. Herein, a new surface texturing method is introduced based on the conventional shot peening process. Custom shots are designed, and their surface texturing capability is investigated on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer substrates. A finite‐element model is developed to bombard the substrate using AISI 316 stainless steel customized shots. The generated unique textures are compared qualitatively by visual examination and quantitatively using the standard surface roughness parameters. As a proof of concept, preliminary experiments are performed using a candidate custom shot and a spherical shot to treat the ABS sheets. The results highlight the high potential of the shot peening technique paired with additive manufacturing for customizing the peening media to be used for surface texturing polymeric materials.

A novel surface texturing technique is introduced based on the surface bombardment using custom shots originally known as the shot peening process as describe in the article number http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/adem.202201730 by Sara Bagherifard and co‐worker. Different textures are achievable through custom shots having distinct superficial designs and upon full coverage shot peening. The concept is proved by simulations and experiments.