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Microstructural, surface and fatigue analysis of stress peened leaf springs

Article  in  International Journal of Structural Integrity · October 2015

DOI: 10.1108/IJSI-10-2013-0038

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 International Journal of Structural Integrity

Microstructural, Surface and Fatigue Analysis of Stress

Peened Leaf Springs

Journal: International Journal of Structural Integrity

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Manuscript ID: IJSI-10-2013-0038.R1

Manuscript Type: Research Paper

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leaf springs, Fatigue, Roughness, Residual stresses, Stress peening,
Keywords:
decarburization
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Page 1 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

1
2
3 Nomenclature
4
5
6 E = Young’s modulus R = stress ratio
7 FE = Finite Elements Ra = average roughness
8 HRC = Rockwell C Hardness Rm = ultimate tensile strength
9 Kv = surface treatment factor Rt = maximum roughness
10 Kσ = Roughness factor Rz = mean roughness depth
11 k = slope of the stress-life curve x, y = roughness variables
12 L = Length σ = stress
13 LCF = Low Cycle Fatigue σa = stress amplitude
14
Mσ = mean stress sensitivity factor σE = endurance stress limit
15
Nf = number of cycles to failure σm = mean stress
16
17
18
1. Introduction
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19
20 Parabolic leaf springs constitute a very cost effective suspension type of commercial vehicles. Their
21 most essential advantage over alternative suspensions, such as on air or coil springs, is the
22 combination of both guidance and suspension of axles within a single component, the leaf spring.
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23 Therewith, the number and cost of additional guidance components and their bearing to the vehicle
24 frame can be significantly reduced.
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25 Due to their multi-function, leaf springs are regarded as safety components of vehicles and
26 therefore, pre-mature failure should be avoided. The safety aspect is more pronounced in the case of
27 front axle springs. Hereby, failure of a main leaf may significantly affect the steering behavior of the
28 vehicle. The works of Karditsas, Savaidis and Savaidis (2013) and Soner, Guven, Ozcelik, Tokgonul,
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29 Erdogus, Karaagac and Kanbolat (2013) refer to the mutual influence between steering and
30
suspension. Apart from safety aspects, optimized leaf spring design has to occur within certain natural
31
frequency ranges dependent on the type of vehicle, the type of axle, and the payload. This is in order
32
to ensure sufficient driver comfort and elimination of noises during operation. Interested readers may
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33
34 find recent findings on this subject in the work of Soner et al. (2013).
35 To fulfill the safety requirements and the continuously increasing demand for lightweight
36 structures, both optimized design and accurate manufacturing process should be ensured from the
point of view of fatigue. During the last decades, the vehicle manufactures invested significant effort
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37
38 in determining reliable operational load data to be considered for fatigue design and analysis of axles
39 and axle suspension components, especially leaf springs. Though most of the determined knowledge
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40 remains within the vehicle manufacturing enterprises, some fundamental work has been widely
41 exploited. Regarding practical application, the works of Fischer and Grubisic (1983) and Grubisic
42 (1994) are of special significance, since they contain maximum design loads and load spectra in
43 reference to the axle payload derived from long-term vehicle measurements on test tracks and public
44 roads. Their proposals have been verified by experimental measurements reported by Decker and
45 Savaidis (2002). In all investigations, the major design load for leaf springs is considered to be cyclic
46 bending with tensile mean load equal to the wheel payload. Such loading condition occurs during
47 driving the pay-loaded vehicle over potholes or obstacles as well as during quasi-static maneuvers
48 such as forward braking (referred to as “wind-up”).
49 Taking into account bending as the major design load, and using Finite Elements and/or Euler’s
50 beam theory, Savaidis et al. (1999) and Kim et al. (2002) proposed theoretical models leading to leaf
51 shape design, exhibiting advanced stiffness performance and reduced noise problems, especially in the
52
case of progressive multi-leaf springs (Zahavi, 2003; Kim and Moon, 2004; Soner et al. 2013).
53
Recently, Savaidis et al. (2013), Kumar et al. (2012) and Kumar and Aggarwal (2012) developed
54
advanced design procedures using the Finite Element method.
55
56 Optimally designed parabolic leaf springs distribute bending stresses arising from vertical loads
57 along the complete tensile surfaces of both the front and the rear arm. Wind-up stresses are distributed
58 solely in the rear arm. Considering the fact that the complete tensile surface of a leaf experiences
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 International Journal of Structural Integrity Page 2 of 17

1
2
3 approximately equal high stresses, it becomes clear that stable and controlled manufacturing process is
4 essential to ensure sufficient mechanical properties along the complete tensile leaf surface. Special
5 attention is given to optimizing the surface stress peening process, i.e. shot peening in combination
6 with mechanical stretching (bending) of the leaf, to enhance the durability of the highly-stressed
7 tensile leaf surface. A comprehensive literature review on this field has been recently given by
8 Zimmermann et al. (2010). In addition, valuable investigations concerning the effect of shot peening
9 to the mechanical material properties have been published by Tekeli (2002), Cammett (2008), Hong et
10 al. (2008) and Mylonas and Labeas (2011). The compression surfaces, i.e. the ones subjected to
11 compression bending stresses are of less significance from a design point of view.
12 Fragoudakis et al. (2013), Savaidis (2013) and Fuentes et al. (2009) showed that surface
13
decarburization resulting from heat treatment may occur under serial production conditions and
14
significantly affect the microstructure of leaf spring surfaces. Moreover, surface irregularities due to
15
16
the stress peening process may affect the mechanical properties of the failure-critical leaf surface. The
17 international literature does not contain any reliable experimental data regarding the effect of such
18 processes/treatments on the mechanical properties and the fatigue performance of leaf springs.
The present work settles at this point.
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19
20 Taking as example high-performance parabolic leaves made of two different batches of 51CrV4
21 from serial springs used for the suspension of front truck axles, the present paper focuses on the effect
22 of heat treatment and stress peening processes on the microstructure, the surface properties (residual
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23 stresses, hardness, roughness, decarburization zone and percentage) and especially the fatigue life of
24 parabolic leaf springs. The microstructure, surface decarburization zones and percentage, are acquired
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25 by means of optical microscopy. Rockwell-C hardness of the materials’ surface and core, roughness
26 profiles and residual stress profiles of both the stress-peened and non-peened leaf surfaces, are
27 determined and compared to each other, in order to quantify the effect of the applied heat and stress
28 peening treatments on the surface properties. In addition, the design stress-life curve of high-
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29 performance leaf springs is experimentally determined. Special attention is given to the assessment of
30 the mutual interactions between influencing parameters, such as heat treatment, decarburization,
31 residual stresses and surface roughness. Fracture surface analyses of distinctive specimens, combined
32 with investigations of the microstructure and the hardness profiles of the stress peened surface, the
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33 non-peened surface and the core material, supported the analyses in order to reveal the effect of the
34 applied manufacturing process on the leaves under consideration.
35
36
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2. Specimens
38
39 Figure 1 shows the specimen’s (leaf) shape under consideration. It corresponds to the helper leaf from
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40 a serial two-leaf spring used in the front suspension of heavy duty trucks. The front axle payload
41 amounts to 8 tones.
42
43 Figure 1 here
44
45
46
The highly-stressed tensile surface and the compression surface are illustrated in the various views
47
of the leaf shown in Figure 1. The continuously varying thickness distribution (parabola) can be
48
49 observed on the bottom image of Figure 1.
50
51
2.1 Material and manufacturing
52 All specimens are made of high-grade 51CrV4 spring steel. The chemical composition of the raw
53 material according to EN 10083-3 (2006) is given in Table I.
54
55 Table I here
56
57
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Page 3 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

1
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3 To shape the parabolic thickness distribution along the leaves, raw material bars with profile
4 dimensions of 90x30 [mm] are hot-rolled extruded at a temperature of >900°C. The parabolic leaves
5 are then hardened in an oil bath at 55-60°C and then annealed at >430°C. The tensile surface of the
6
leaves is stress-peened at room temperature to enhance the surface strength by inducing compressive
7
8 residual stresses. Finally, three-point bending, by means of mechanical or hydraulic actuators, sets the
9 desired leaf curvature.
10
11 2.2 Surface decarburization
12 Metallurgical analysis of the core and the areas near to both surfaces (stress-peened, non-peened) of
13 selected specimens, were performed to reveal the effect of the manufacturing process, especially heat
14
treatment, on the leaf’s microstructure. Figure 2 shows high magnification images obtained by
15
16 stereoscope of the microstructure sampled on one specimen of each batch. Specimen A belongs to
17 batch 1, specimen C belongs to batch 2.
18
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19 Figure 2 here
20
21
22 The images in the middle row of Figure 2 show the typical martensitic microstructure in the core of
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23
both specimens C and A. The upper and lower images show the microstructure of the stress-peened
24
and non-peened surfaces of specimens C and A, respectively. The red lines in these images are
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25
26 introduced to indicate the areas with and without decarburization. It can be observed that both surfaces
27 of specimen C, the stress-peened and the non-peened one, show pronounced decarburization. Surface
28 decarburization is also observed in the case of specimen A, but is less intense than that in specimen C.
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29
30 2.3 Mechanical surface properties
31
A total of 90 Rockwell C (HRC) macro-hardness measurements have been performed on the core, the
32
stress-peened and the non-peened surfaces of selected specimens in order to gain knowledge about the
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34 corresponding mechanical properties. The corresponding ultimate tensile strength, Rm, values for each
35 material condition are converted from the HRC values according to DIN EN ISO 18625 (2004). Table
36 II summarizes the results for both batches under consideration.
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37
38
39 Table II here
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40
41
42 Considering the quite large number of measurements and the relatively small deviation of the
43 results, the mean HRC values are regarded to be accurate. Specimen C provides a (slightly) larger
44 HRC core value compared to the one of the core of specimen A. On the other hand, the HRC values
45 measured on the tensile and compression surface of specimen C are significantly lower than the
46 corresponding ones of specimen A. This can be clearly observed in the values valid for the
47
compression (non-peened) surfaces. This behavior is mainly due to the decarburization process, which
48
49 has been observed to be more pronounced in the case of specimen C, as discussed in subsection 2.2
50 and as shown in Figure 2. The tensile surfaces have been additionally subjected to stress-peening;
51 therefore, the measured HRC end-results are influenced by both the decarburization and the cold work
52 induced by the stress-peening.
53
54 2.4 Surface roughness
55
Roughness profiles have been indicatively measured on the previously mentioned leaf samples A and
56
57 C from batches 1 and 2, respectively, in order to evaluate the effect of roughness on the fatigue life of
58
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 International Journal of Structural Integrity Page 4 of 17

1
2
3 the leaves. Figures 3 and 4 show indicative roughness profiles measured on the stress peened (solid
4 lines) and non-peened surfaces (dotted lines) of both samples, C and A, respectively.
5
6
Figure 3 here
7
8
9
10 Figure 4 here
11
12
13 Typical roughness properties according to DIN EN ISO 4287 (1998) such as the maximum
14 roughness, Rt, the arithmetical average roughness, Ra, and the mean roughness depth, Rz, have been
15 calculated according to Eqs (1) and (2) and given in the corresponding diagrams.
16 1L
17 Ra = ∫y( x )dx (1)
18 L0
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19 1 5
Rz = ∑Rt ,i (2)
20 5 i =1
21 In the present investigation, the measurement length amounts to L=4mm. It should be noticed, that
22 Rz has been suggested by Siebel and Gaier (1956a, 1957b) to describe the effect of roughness on the
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23
fatigue (endurance) limit of steels, mainly due to its simpler calculation compared to Ra. The adequacy
24
and introduction of Rz to fatigue life calculations using the Theory of Elasticity has been presented by
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26 Hück, Thrainer and Schütz (1981). Savaidis et al. (2002) and Savaidis (2005) considered Rz within
27 elastic-plastic fatigue life calculation models and verified its efficiency on serially produced
28 engineering components with pronounced surface roughness. Moreover, Rz is recommended when
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29 evaluating the roughness effect on the endurance limit within the FKM guideline (2003).
30
31 2.5 Residual stresses
32
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33 Residual stress profiles have been indicatively measured by means of X-ray diffraction in the
34 longitudinal direction on both the stress-peened and non-peened surfaces by the leaf spring
35 manufacturer. The purpose of such measurements is to assess the effectiveness of the applied stress-
36 peening process in regards to residual stress induction. Measurements have been performed on the
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37
surface at 100 µm intervals to a depth of 500 µm. The markers in Figure 5 represent the measured
38
39 results.
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40
41 Figure 5 here
42
43
44 Material removal between measurement steps was conducted electrolytically. Figure 5 shows a
45 comparative illustration of the residual stress results from both specimen types, A and C.
46
Overall, the measured residual stress profiles are typical for stress-peened leaves (Savaidis; 2013).
47
48 Due to the Hertzian contact pressure, the maximum compressive residual stresses are developed below
49 the stress-peened (tensile) surface, at approximately 200-300 µm depth, and have values of -950 MPa
50 and -1080 MPa for specimens A and C, respectively. The compressive residuals stress values at the
51 surface are significantly lower than the maximum ones of approximately ≈700 MPa for both
52 specimens. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that the absolute values of the determined residual
53
stress should be carefully considered, since they are derived from a single residual stress measurement
54
55 and are known to exhibit worth mentioning deviations within serially produced leaf spring batches
56 (Vöhringer; 1987 and Farrahi et al.; 2005). Additional data on this topic were not available from the
57 manufacturer.
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Page 5 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

1
2
3 The (very low) tensile residual stresses developed on the non-peened surface are due to the heat
4 treatment process. They are of no further significance in the design and fatigue performance of the
5 leaves.
6
7
3. Test rig
8
9 To determine the design σ-N curves, three point bending fatigue tests have been performed on the
10 servohydraulic test rig shown in Figure 6.
11
12 Figure 6 here
13
14
15 Here the leaf is shown in nominal loaded condition, i.e. loaded with half of the axle payload. The
16
hydraulic actuator introduces the load via a special clamp device in the middle of the leaf specimen.
17
18 On each side of the specimen and at a distance of 700 mm from its center, two bearing supports are
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19 mounted on the base frame preventing any kind of constraining forces in the longitudinal direction of
20 the specimen during cycling loading. All 3-point fatigue tests were performed with a sinusoidal force
21 signal at a constant mean stress corresponding to half of the axle payload. The testing frequency
22 ranges from 0.4 to 0.6 Hz, depending on the applied stress amplitude.
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23
All cyclic tests were performed in laboratory environment conditions and at room temperature. The
24
failure criterion was total fracture of the specimen.
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26
27 4. Stress-strain measurements
28 To determine the stress distribution over the length of the leaves under investigation, simulations of
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29 the test rig configuration by using finite elements have been performed. Modeling details regarding
30 number and type of elements, contact definitions, and center clamping has been performed according
31
to the experimentally verified modeling procedure proposed by Savaidis et al. (2013).
32
In addition, strain gauges having length of 3mm have been indicatively applied at various positions
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34 along the length on the inner side of one specimen, i.e. the side that is subjected to tension stresses
35 during loading. The measurement of the strains was performed under monotonic and cyclic loading.
36 The corresponding stresses were calculated taking into account the standardized Young’s modulus for
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37 steel (E= 2.1 GPa). Figure 7 shows the results of the theoretically and experimentally determined
38
stresses.
39
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40
41 Figure 7 here
42
43
44 In Figure 7 the calculated (normalized) stress distributions along the length of the leaf are
45 illustrated for two characteristic loading conditions, the nominal (half payload - dashed curve) and the
46 maximum applied one (solid curve). The corresponding measurements are plotted with marker
47
symbols. The centre of the leaf is regarded to be the reference point (0 mm).
48
49 Comparison of calculated (FEM) with experimentally determined stresses for both stress
50 conditions, shows good agreement of the results. The maximum stresses arise at distances of
51 approximately ±115 to ±130 mm from the specimen’s centre. Further away from the specimen’s
52 center, significant reduction in the acting stresses is observed. The highest stresses arise within the
53 areas right after the centre clamping up to approximately 130 mm measured from the specimens’
54
55
centre, on both the front and the rear arm. Therefore, strain gauges were applied on the
56 aforementioned locations of every tested leaf in order to determine precisely the maximum applied
57 local stress on the tension surface and, consequently, the adequate stress level for the fatigue
58 investigations.
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 International Journal of Structural Integrity Page 6 of 17

1
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3 5. Results and failure analysis
4 5.1 Fracture surfaces of the leaf springs
5
6 Fatigue cracks were initiated in the highly stressed areas on the tension surface of all tested specimens
7 and led to their total rupture. Figure 8 shows fracture locations and surfaces of specimens A and C.
8
9 Figure 8 here
10
11
12 The arrows on the fracture location and fracture surface images indicate the fatigue crack initiation
13
site.
14
15
16 5.2 Fatigue evaluation and assessment
17 The fatigue life results of the 3-point bending cyclic tests are illustrated with symbols in the σa-Nf
18
graphs shown in Figures 9 and 10 for specimen types A and C, respectively. Therein, the applied
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19
20 (normalized) stress amplitudes are plotted vs. the number of cycles to failure (fracture) at constant
21 mean stress. It is worth noticing that four of a total of seven A-type specimens subjected to normalized
22 stress amplitude of 0.6 did not fail at the applied number of cycles (approximately between 700000 to
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23 900000 cycles), indicating that the selected normalized stress amplitude is very close to the technical
24 endurance limit. The crossed hollow symbols used in Figure 9 indicate these results. The above four
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25
specimens were successively tested at significantly higher normalized stress amplitude of 0.75,
26
27 keeping the same mean stress. The hollow triangles represent the fatigue cycles-to-fracture at the
28 normalized stress amplitude of 0.75 of these specific four specimens. It can be assumed that their
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29 (pre)stressing at normalized stress amplitude of 0.6 did not cause any worth mentioning pre-damage,
30 since their fatigue lives-to-fracture at normalized stress amplitude of 0.75: (a) are in the same range as
31 that of the one additional specimen tested solely at the same normalized stress amplitude and (b)
32
exhibit the same scatter as that on the other normalized stress levels investigated. It should be noted
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34 that the crossed hollow symbols have been excluded from the statistical analysis of the results due to
35 their non-failure. The main intension to set up the normalized stress level, in the case of the four
36 specimens mentioned, was to extend the number of results within the base of the experimental fatigue
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37 life data, and therewith improve its statistical reliability.

38
39
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40 Figure 9 here
41
42 Figure 10 here
43
44
45 Linear regressions of the test results providing failure (i.e. excluding the ones with crossed hollow
46 symbols in the case of A-type specimens) yield the corresponding σa-Nf curves with 50% probability
47 of survival (bold solid lines in Figures 9 and 10, respectively). The experimentally determined Wöhler
48 curves have slope values of kTests=6.5 and 4.9 for the specimen types A and C, respectively. However,
49 it should be noticed that only two C-type specimens were tested at the normalized stress level of 0.75.
50
51 From a statistical point of view, a higher number of tested specimens at this stress level may have
52 slightly affected the slope of this particular Wöhler curve. Unfortunately, no further C-type specimens
53 could be made available from the manufacturer to cover the normalized stress level of 0.75 with
54 higher number of fatigue life results.
55 The knee point indicating the lifetime limited area of the experimentally determined Wöhler curves
56
with survival probability Ps=97.5%, has been arbitrarily set to Nf=106, following the corresponding
57
58 recommendations of the FKM guideline (2003).
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Page 7 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

1
2
3 To gain a deeper insight into these end-results determined from the fatigue tests, theoretical fatigue
4 analyses have been performed according to the recommendations of the FKM guideline.
5 Based on the ultimate tensile strength values, Rm, given in Table II for the material condition
6
provided in the (failure-critical) tensile surface of both specimen types A and C, the (normalized)
7
8 endurance stress amplitude, σE, at fully reversed bend loading (R=-1) at Nf=106 can be approximated
9 by means of Eq. (3).
10
11 σ E = 1.25 • 0.45 • Rm = 0.56 Rm (3)
12
13
14 The theoretical slopes ktheoretical of the calculated Wöhler curves are determined when connecting
15 the endurance limit point with the knee-point of the Low Cycle Fatigue region, i.e. the point at stress
16 amplitude of 0.9xRm and Nf≈103. The dotted curves in Figures 9 and 10 represent the so-calculated
17 Wöhler curves valid for fully reversed (R=-1) bend loading and both material types, A and C,
18 respectively.
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19
Considering the mean roughness Rz,A=19µm and Rz,C=17µm measured on the tensile surfaces
20
21 (Table II) of specimens A and C, respectively, and the corresponding Rm-values (Rm,A=1371 N/mm2,
22 Rm,C=1197 N/mm2), the decrease of the stress endurance limit by the factor Kσ at Nf≈106, can be
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23 estimated by Eq. (4), which refers to the fundamental investigations of Siebel and Gaier (1956a),
24 (1957b).
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25
26
27 K σ = 0.22 log( R z / µm) log( 2 Rm / 400 MPa ) (4)
28
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29 The calculated roughness factors for material types A and C amount to Kσ=0.76 and Kσ=0.79,
30 respectively. The corresponding stress-lifetime tendencies are plotted with dashed lines in Figures 9
31 and 10, for every specimen type, A and C.
32
In addition, the influence of the compressive residual stresses on fatigue life has to be taken into
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34 account. It should be considered that (a) the measured single-values given in subsection 2.4 cannot be
35 regarded reliable due to the absence of statistical safety, and (b) to the best knowledge of the authors,
36 there exists no accurate model to treat the residual stresses within fatigue life prediction models of
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37 high-strength steels. Therefore, preference has been given in the corresponding recommendation of the
38 FKM guideline. Based on experimental fatigue life data derived from various steel specimens with
39
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pronounced residual stresses, an increasing endurance strength factor Kv=1.2 due to surface treatment
40
41 is globally given within the FKM guideline to take into account the effect of residual stresses on steel
42 components due to shot-peening. Therewith, the corresponding endurance limits at Nf=106 for both
43 specimen types, A and C, are shifted to higher stresses by a factor of Kv=1.2. The corresponding
44 Wöhler curves are plotted with dash-dotted lines in Figures 9 and 10 for material types A and C,
45 respectively.
46
47
Finally, the influence of the applied mean stress on the fatigue life can be evaluated taking the
48 mean stress sensitivity factor Mσ into account. Mσ is defined according to Eq. (5).
49
50 σ Ε ( R = -1) - σ Ε ( R = 0)
51 Mσ = (5)
σ Ε ( R = 0)
52
53
54 Mσ is a single-value scalar that has been introduced by Schütz (Schütz; 1967) to describe the
55 change of the sustainable stress amplitude with varying mean stress at constant number of cycles to
56 failure Nf within the stress ratio range -1≤R≤0. In the case of steel materials, the mean stress sensitivity
57
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 International Journal of Structural Integrity Page 8 of 17

1
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3 factor can be approximated from the material’s ultimate tensile strength, according to Schütz’s linear
4 approximation formula, Eq. (6), which has been confirmed by Macherauch and Wohlfahrt (1985).
5
6
7
M σ = 0.00035( Rm / MPa ) - 0.1 (6)
8
9 In the case of stress ratios outside the range mentioned above, e.g. for R>0 which is valid for the
10 present study, the decrease of the sustainable stress amplitude can be determined by single-values
11 dependent on Mσ. For R>0, 1/3·Mσ has to be taken into account for the sustainable stress decrease
12
(FKM guideline, 2003).
13
14 Considering here Rm,A=1371 N/mm2 and Rm,C=1197 N/mm2 for specimens A and C, respectively,
15 the corresponding mean stress sensitivity factors calculated from Eq. (6) are Mσ,A=0.38 and Mσ,C=0.32.
16 Therewith, the “final” σa-Nf curves, i.e. the ones considering the individual material condition and all
17 above described technological effects are plotted with solid curves in Figures 9 and 10. They are valid
18 for PS≈50%
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19
20 Comparison of the experimental and calculated fatigue life results shows acceptable calculation
21 accuracy of the procedure described within the FKM guideline.
22
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23 6. Conclusions
24 The influence of the material, heat treatment and stress peening processes on the microstructure,
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25 the surface properties (residual stresses, hardness, roughness, decarburization) and especially, the
26 fatigue life of parabolic leaf springs made of 51CrV4 from two different raw material suppliers, has
27
28 been experimentally and theoretically investigated. The followings conclusions can be derived:
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29
The core material provides typical martensitic microstructure with adequate hardness and
30 ultimate tensile strength for serial leaf spring production. However, decarburization resulting
31 from the heat treatment process is observed in the tension and compression surfaces of the
32 leaves leading to loss of hardness and degradation of the ultimate tensile strength and,
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33 therewith, fatigue resistance.

34
FE simulation results of the leaf spring behavior on the 3-point bending test rig coincided with
35 strain measurements along the leaf length. The highly-stressed leaf areas have been identified to
36 be near the center clamping. Therewith, the highest stresses due to fatigue testing could be
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37 reliably controlled on all investigated specimens by means of strain gages. Fatigue failure
38 occurred at the tensile surfaces of the highly-stressed leaf areas.
39
Experimental σa-Nf curves are in good agreement with calculated ones based on the FKM
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40 guideline using material properties, roughness and residual stress states resulting from stress
41 peening.
42
The theoretical analysis revealed and assessed the influence of each technological factor on the
43
specimens’ fatigue life. According to it, roughness and compressive residual stresses, both
44
induced from the applied stress peening, cancel each other out in the present case.
45
46

The obtained results reveal the sensitivity of the high-strength steels to heat treatment and stress
47 peening appointing the necessity for further optimization of both processes under serial
48 production conditions. Further research investigations should be dedicated to lower the surface
49 decarburization by shielding the heat treatment process line from air (oxygen). Therewith, an
50 improvement of the fatigue life could be achieved. In addition, stress peening parameters, e.g.
51 coverage, shot hardness and shape, and Almen intensity should be improved to increase the
52 residual stresses and reduce the surface roughness.
53
54
55 References
56 Cammett, J. (2008), “Shot peening of springs – a case study”, The Shot Peener, Vol. 22, pp. 8-16.
57
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Page 9 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

1
2
3 Decker, M. and Savaidis, G. (2002), “Measurements and analysis of wheel loads for design and
4 fatigue evaluation of chassis components”, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials
5 and Structures, Vol. 25, pp. 1103-19.
6 DIN EN ISO 18625 (2004). Metallic materials - Conversion of hardness values, European Committee,
7 Brussels.
8 DIN EN ISO 4287 (1998). Geometrical Product Specifications. Surface texture; profile method –
9 terms, definition and surface texture parameters, European Committee, Brussels.
10 EN 10083-3 (2006), Steels for quenching and tempering. Technical delivery conditions for alloy
11 steels, European Committee, Brussels.
12 Farrahi, G.H., Lebrun, J.L., Couratin, D. (2005), “Effect of shot peening on residual stress and fatigue
13 life of a spring steel”, Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, Vol. 18,
14 pp. 211-20.
15 FKM-Guideline (2003), Analytical Strength Assessment of Mechanical Components, 5th Edition,
16 VDMA Verlag, Frankfurt a.M.
17 Fragoudakis, R., Saigal, A., Savaidis, G., Malikoutsakis, M., Bazios, I., Savaidis, A., Pappas, G.,
18 Karditsas, G. (2013), “Fatigue assessment and failure analysis of shot-peened leaf springs”,
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19 Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, Vol. 36, pp. 92-101.
20 Fuentes, J.J., Aguilar, H.J., Rodriguez, J.A. and Herrera, E.J. (2009), “Premature fracture in
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24 Grubisic, V. and Fischer, G. (1983), “Automotive wheels, method and procedure for optimal design
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26 Hong, T., Ooi, J.Y and Shaw, B. (2008), “A numerical simulation to relate the shot peening
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46 Savaidis, A. (2013), “Surface properties and fatigue life of stress peened leaves”, Materials Testing,
47 Vol. 54, pp. 529-34.
48 Savaidis, G., Riebeck, L., Feitzelmayer, K. (1999), “Fatigue life improvement of parabolic leaf springs
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25 Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 289-310.

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5 main leaf
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21 Figure 1. Serial two-leaf spring (top) and various views of the helper leaf used for the
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55 Figure 2. Microstructure of the shot-peened and non-peened surfaces and the core of samples
56 A and C of batches 1 and 2, respectively
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27 Figure 3. Roughness profile measured on the stress-peened and non-peened surfaces of
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55 Figure 4. Roughness profile measured on the stress-peened and non-peened surfaces of
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26 Figure 5. Residual stress distribution at the stress-peened and non-peened surface areas of
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48 Figure 6. 3-point bending test rig
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Figure 8. Fracture locations and surfaces (left: specimen A, right: specimen C)
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5 Theoretical results
6 1.6 Tensile side material, R=-1, Bending

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1.5 Surface roughness effect (Kσ=0.76 for Rz=19 µm)

Normalized stress amplitude [MPa] 1.4 Kσ + Stress peening (Kv=1.2)

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9 1.3 Kσ + Kv + Mean stress effect (Mσ=0.38)
10 1.2
11 1.1 51CrV4, Type A
σE:calculated from HRC
12 1 σm=const.
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27 Number of cycles to failure
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30 Figure 9. Experimental and theoretical fatigue results for A-type specimens
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5 Theoretical results
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6 1.3 Surface roughness (Kσ=0.79 for Rz=17 µm)
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1.2 Kσ + Stress peening (Kv=1.2)
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9
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10 1
11 51CrV4, Type C
0.9 σE:calculated from HRC
12 σm=const.
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14 0.8
15 Calculated: Ps=50%
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18 0.6
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20 Experimental: Ps=50%
21 0.5 kTests=4.9
22 Test results
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Number of cycles to failure
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Page 17 of 17 International Journal of Structural Integrity

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7 Table 1: Chemical composition of 51CrV4 steel (weight %) according to EN 10083-3
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9 C Si Mn P S Cr V
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11 0.47-0.55 < 0.4 0.70-1.10 < 0.025 < 0.025 0.90-1.20 0.10-0.25
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24 Table 2: HRC and Rm values for both batches and all material conditions
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Spec. Core Tension surface Compression surface
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Mean Rm Mean Rm Mean Rm
27 No HRC HRC HRC
[MPa] [MPa] [MPa]
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30 A 47.3±1.2 1538 43.3±1.0 1371 39.0±1.1 1227
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32 C 48.9±1.0 1622 38.0±1.2 1197 37.0±0.8 1165
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