Improvement of fatigue strength by using cavitating jet in air

Cavitation normally causes severe damage in hydraulic machinery such as pumps and valves. However, the cavitation impacts at the bubble collapse can be used to enhance the surface of metallic materials just as the same way as shot peening. In case of peening using cavitation impact, the cavitation is produced by injecting a high-speed water jet in a water-filled chamber. The authors have already demonstrated the fatigue strength improvement of materials using a high-speed water jet in water. Recently the authors succeeded in producing a cavitating jet in air by injecting a high-speed water jet into a low-speed water jet using a concentric nozzle. Cavitating jet in air can be used to peen parts of plant which cannot peened by the water-filled chamber, thereby impeding the initiation and/or the development of cracks. In this study, in order to demonstrate the improvement of fatigue strength of materials using cavitating jet in air, stainless steel (JIS SUS316L) was peened and the residual stress measured using the X-ray diffraction method. The surface residual stress of non-peened and peened specimen was -68 MPa and -350 MPa, respectively. The fatigue strength of the specimen were then investigated using the rotating bending fatigue test, with a stress ratio of R = -1. The fatigue strength of peened specimen by cavitating jet in air improved by 20% compared with non-peened specimen.