Superficial Effects of Ball Burnishing on TRIP Steel AISI 301LN Sheets

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of applying an ultrasonic vibration-assisted ball burnishing process and its non-vibration assisted version on the topology and subsurface microstructure of a transformation-induced plasticity AISI 301LN alloy. More specifically, four different metallographic conditions provided as 1.5-mm thickness sheets and characterized by different starting martensite content (3, 10, 20 and 40 wt.%) are included in the study. Ball burnishing was performed along the lamination direction and perpendicular to it. Results show that the effect of ball burnishing is strongly correlated with the pre-existing microstructure. The steel containing the lowest quantity of initial martensite is the most affected by the process, achieving a higher residual hardening effect, similar to the untreated steel with an original martensitic content of around 40 wt.%. Moreover, the process succeeds in generating a 100-nm thick nanograin layer under the plate subsurface. Finally, no conspicuous effect of the application of vibration assistance was observed, which encourages the application of alternative measurement techniques in future works to define its effect on the properties after being ball burnished.

Effect of the ball burnishing on the surface quality and mechanical properties of a TRIP steel sheet

“…Also, in sheet metal forming operations where the material is deformed by the action of rigid tools, the friction between the sheet and tools, affecting the strain distribution of the sheet, takes a special role on the fracture of the material [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Therefore, several authors have focused on the usage of surface plastic deformation techniques, such as the burnishing process, to improve material characteristics like roughness, hardness, fatigue life, microstructure, corrosion resistance and the mechanical properties of materials [10][11][12][13][14]. In recent years, burnishing is considered as one of the outstanding cold-forming finishing processes employed as a surface treatment technique for the manufacturing industry [15].…”

“…Recently, the effect of the ball burnishing process has taken a great interest due to the wide use of these materials in automotive components. To mention, Travieso et al analyzed the effect of the plastic deformation generated by the ball burnishing process on several types TRIP sheets with different content of martensite [35].…”

Vibration-Assisted Ball Burnishing

“…A 2-kHz assistance was reported to improve the surface roughness of AISI 1038 [10] and EN AW 7078 [11] with regards to the non-assisted process (NVABB), although the results in terms of microhardness were questionable. Extensive experimental research has been performed to analyze the impact of VABB on different ball-end milled surfaces of AISI 1038 [12], Ti-6Al-4V [13], nickel-based Udimet 720 alloy [14] and AISI 306 [15]. In all cases, following the same research pattern by applying Taguchi experimental design, the authors conclude that VABB proves its effectiveness to modify effectively the surface topology of all surfaces, and redistributing the material to a Gaussian state.…”

“…The nanoscopical level also shows information about how the material at the surface is modified after VABB. It has been found that the process succeeds in refining the grain structure at the subsurface on many alloys such as aluminum 6061 [17] or AISI 1045 [18], and is even able to promote the phase transformation in materials such as Ti-6Al-4V [19], or austenitic metastable AISI 306 [15] (by forcing the generation of martensite by cold plastic strain) [20]. This translates into a higher residual hardening and stress.…”

Contribution In Determining The Fatigue Endurance of Slide Diamond Burnishing AISI52100 Steel Components

“…Meanwhile, the interest to fatigue resistance is related to the bene cial effect of ball burnishing in generating compressive residual stress at the surface layers of a component [9,10]. Amador et al [11] have carried investigation on ball burnishing effect on deep residual stress on AISI 1038 steel.…”