Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197

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Tribology International
journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Tribological behavior of shot peened/austempered AISI 5160 steel

Xue Han a, Zhenpu Zhang a, Jiayu Hou a, Gary C. Barber a, Feng Qiu a, b, *
a
Automotive Tribology Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, 48309, USA
b
Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Renmin Street NO. 5988, Changchun,
130025, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In order to enhance component performance, material sustainability, and service life, this study presents the
Shot peening tribological behavior of different austempered AISI 5160 steel specimens with shot peening. All the specimens
Austempered AISI 5160 were austempered for 2 h, then followed by shot peening to study the effect of shot peening and bainite mor­
Bainite morphology
phologies on the wear and friction behavior. The microstructures, hardness, and residual stress of specimens
Compressive residual stress
were studied by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Vickers micro-hardness, 3D-profiler, and X-
ray diffraction. Shot peening produced higher hardness on soft austempered specimens, rather than on hard
austempered specimens. Compared with non-shot peened austempered disk specimens, the wear reduction of
disk specimens with shot peening is up to 73%.

1. Introduction
Tribological performance is important in determining applications
for different types of steels. Various surface modifications and lubrica­
tion for improving tribological performance, such as nitriding, carburi­
zation, and thermal spray coatings, nanofluids, oil film thickness, and
alloy-composites have been investigated [1–4]. However, these
methods often need special equipment, have temperature limitations, or
require long preparation times.
Shot peening is an in-expensive, simple, and industrially reliable
surface treatment [1]. It is a well-known surface treatment to prevent
crack initiation and propagation on a component’s surface by improving
fatigue strength. This process has been applied on various types of ma­
terials, such as titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, stainless steels,
carburized steels, Hadfield steel, low carbon steels, and high strength
steels [5–11]. The effects of shot peening include: (1) both surface
roughness and stress concentration increase by shot peening produced
dents; (2) a work hardened layer is produced by increasing the dislo­
cation density, the small steel balls continuously hit the surface pro­
ducing higher yield strength and hardness, but lower ductility; (3)
compressive residual stress is produced (4) formation of sub-grain fine
microstructure, peening intensity may cause the grain size to change
from micro to nanometers; (5) deformation may cause phase trans­
formation, such as the transformation of metastable austenite to
martensite [11–16]. However, the shot peening effect on wear behavior
has been rarely studied [5,8,11,13,17]. Yan et al. [5] studied the shot
peening effect on the wear behavior of Hadfield steel. After shot peen­
ing, the grain sizes on the surface were decreased to 11.1–17.4 nm. As
the shot peening period increased, the surface hardness increased.
However, although the shot peening increased hardness and produced
grain refinement, two-body abrasive wear resistance was not enhanced.
Fridrici et al. [8] studied fretting wear of shot peened Ti–6Al–4V.
Their results showed that shot peening decreases the coefficient of
friction only at the beginning of tests. However, shot peening has less
effect on fretting wear under their test conditions.
Hashemi et al. [11] studied wear and corrosion resistance of shot
peened-nitrided 316L austenitic stainless steel. Shot peened-nitrided
specimens had higher wear resistance and hardness than specimens
which were not shot peened. The wear resistance of shot pee­
ned–nitrided 316L stainless steel was increased due to the formation of
nitride phases, production of compressive residual stresses and grain
refinement in the surface layers.
Mitrovic et al. [13] studied friction and wear behavior of shot peened
surfaces of 36CrNiMo4 and 36CrNiMo16 alloyed steels. Their results
showed hardness near the top surface increased by approximately 10%
with shot peening. For both materials, shot peening produced lower
coefficient of friction and wear rate as compared with ground surfaces,
in both dry and lubricated sliding.

* Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials, Ministry of Education and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Renmin
Street NO. 5988, Changchun, 130025, China.
E-mail address: qiufeng@jlu.edu.cn (F. Qiu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106197
Received 15 October 2019; Received in revised form 13 January 2020; Accepted 14 January 2020
Available online 18 January 2020
0301-679X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Han et al.
Table 1
Chemical composition of AISI 5160 steel (wt. %).
C Cr S Mn P Si
0.56–0.64 0.7–0.9 � 0.04 0.75–1.0 � 0.035 0.15–0.3
Fig. 1. As- received microstructure (pearlite).
Palacios et al. [17] studied the shot peening effect on wear behavior
of an aluminum alloy. Their results showed that conventional shot
peening, and severe shot peening followed by a slight mechanical
grinding results in lower wear loss than that of non-shot peened Al 6063
alloy specimens.
AISI 5160 steel is commonly used in the automotive field for heavy
spring applications, due to its extraordinary toughness and high
ductility. When AISI 5160 steel is used to make springs, sliding wear can
occur on the top or bottom of the spring. Also, AISI 5160 steel is used
swords and large knives. Therefore, the enhancement the tribological
performance of AISI 5160 steel is important. The microstructure, re­
sidual stresses, impact toughness, fracture toughness, and fatigue life of
heat-treated AISI 5160 steel has been studied by many investigators
[18–22], but the wear behavior of AISI 5160 steel has been seldom
studied. In this research, friction and wear of AISI 5160 steel with
different austempering processes and with/without shot peening were
studied. The wear and friction were analyzed using a UMT
Multi-specimen test system and 3-D optical profiler. Additionally, the
residual stress was measured using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and the
microstructure before and after testing was analyzed using optical mi­
croscopy and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). These results are
important in the optimum use of shot peening and could be applied to
enhance component performance, material sustainability and compo­
nent service life. Also, the mechanical properties of different bainite
morphologies have importance in various applications of heat-treated
materials. The results are valuable in understanding the tribological
performance of AISI 5160 steel.
2. Experimental
2.1. Test specimens
The chemical composition of the AISI 5160 steel is shown in Table 1
and the as-received disk specimens consisted of pearlite as shown in
Fig. 1. The AISI 5160 steel was purchased from McMaster-Carr. 5160
Table 2
Rockwell C hardness of AISI 5160 steel.
Austempering Temperature As-received 288 � C
NSP-Hardness 28.4 50.9
SP-Hardness 32.4 51.7
Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197
Table 3
Chemical composition of AISI 52100 steel (wt. %).
Fe C Cr S Mn P Si Fe
Bal 0.98–1.1 1.3–1.6 � 0.025 0.24–0.45 � 0.025 0.15–0.3 Bal
steel disk specimens were cut into round disks with 35.4 mm diameter
and 10 mm thickness. The AISI 5160 steel disk specimens were auste­
nitized in a salt bath furnace with a temperature of 855 � C for 20 min.
Then, the disk specimens were austempered in a salt bath furnace with
temperatures of 288 � C, 316 � C, 343 � C, 371 � C, 399 � C, 427 � C, or 454
�
C for 2 h, respectively. Finally, the specimens were oil quenched to
room temperature. Three discs were austempered at each temperature.
After heat treatment, the hardness of the disk specimens was measured
using Vickers hardness (load of 100 gf). The Vickers hardness numbers
were converted to Rockwell C hardness, see Table 2. All the hardness
results were measured three times for each disk sample.
Half of the as received, 288 � C, 316 � C, 343 � C, 371 � C, 399 � C, 427
�
C, and 454 � C austempered disk specimens were shot peened with
white iron balls with 1.25 mm diameter for 2 min. The shot peening
process was performed with an air-type of rotating table blast shot
peening machine. The angle between the nozzle to the treated surface is
90� . 100% of the area of the disk specimens was covered by shot
peening. The shot peening machine and operating conditions is used
industrially to shot peen various steel components. Unfortunately, in­
formation such as ball velocity cannot be determined from this machine.
After shot peening, the disk specimens with/without shot peening were
cleaned using ultrasonic bath. One week after shot peening, the tribo-
tests were run. All the disk specimens were stored in airtight plastic
bags after shot peening.
Then, the tribological performance was compared between the shot
peened disk specimens and non-shot peened disk specimens. After shot
peening, prior to the tribo-tests, the disk specimens with/without shot
peening had one face polished to a ​ 0:37μm � Ra � ​ 0.25 μm average
roughness, Ra. The roughness of each disk sample before and after
testing was measured in the direction of the wear track. The disk spec­
imens were polished using different grit of sandpaper. The skewness of
austempered specimens with/without shot peening is 0.25 μm � Rsk �
0.08 μm. The initial average roughness of the ball surface is 0.2 μm, Ra.
The depth of the hardened layer on shot peened and polished disk
specimens was determined using a nanoindenter (KLA-Tencor Nano­
indenter G200) with a Berkovich diamond indenter at room tempera­
ture. The surface of the disk specimens was mechanically polished to a
mirror finish to acquire reliable data. The area function of the indenter
was calibrated using standard fused silicon before nanoindentation tests.
The contact stiffness (S) as a function of indenter displacement was
obtained by the CSM technique, via loading strain rates of 0.5s 1 and a
maximum displacement of 5 μm. The depth of the hardened layer was
taken as the depth at which the measured hardness matched the original
hardness of the 5160 steel samples before shot peening. The work
hardened layer produced by shot peening on the softer pearlite and
mixed/upper bainite specimens was up to 10-12 μm deep after polish­
ing. The harder lower bainite specimens showed no detectable hardened
layer.
The disk specimens with/without shot peening were immersed in
PAO4 and slid using reciprocating motion with a displacement of 6 mm
using a UMT tribo-tester. The normal load was 320 N with a recipro­
cating speed of 2 Hz and test duration was 10 min. An AISI 52100 steel
316 � C 343 � C 371 � C 399 � C 427 � C 454 � C
49.3 46.9 39 35.9 36.4 31.7
49.3 47.1 42.3 42.6 42.5 43.7
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X. Han et al. Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197

Fig. 2. Microstructure for (a) 288 � C austempering (lower bainite), (b) 316 � C austempering (lower bainite), (c) 343 � C austempering (lower bainite), (d) 371 � C
austempering (lower with upper bainite), (e) 399 � C austempering (upper bainite), (f) 427 � C austempering (upper bainite), (g) 454 � C austempering (upper bainite).

ball was used as counter material with a hardness of 60 HRC, and
diameter of 8.7 mm. The composition of the ball is shown in Table 3.
Hertzian contact stress during testing was 38.71 MPa. The coefficient of
friction was automatically collected by the UMT tribo-tester and was
recorded every 10 ms. All the coefficient of friction data was averaged
for each test and three tests were conducted for each sample at the same
test condition. All the data for coefficient of friction were averaged for
each test. Five different locations of the disk wear scars were measured
by the 3-D profiler and averaged for one specimen to obtain the wear
area. Then, the wear scar area was multiplied by the wear scar length of
6 mm to obtain the wear volume.
The residual stresses were measured using X-ray diffraction. The
strain of the material was measured at each location by using Cr-
radiation at 30 kV and 25 mA with a spot size of 1 mm. The surface
morphology of the tested specimens was examined using a 3D profiler,
optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microstructures
According to the isothermal transformation diagram and microscopy
analysis, 288 � C, 316 � C, and 343 � C austempered disk specimens con­
sisted of lower bainite, 371 � C austempered disk specimen consisted of

3
X. Han et al.
Fig. 3. Residual stress of shot/non-shot peened specimens for various austempering temperature. (0 means as-received specimen, NSP-disk specimens without shot
peening, SP- disk specimens with shot peening).
Fig. 4. Coefficient of friction of shot/non-shot peened specimens for various austempered temperatures. (0 is as-received specimen, NSP - disk specimens without
shot peening, SP - disk specimens with shot peening).
mixed lower and upper bainite, 399 � C, 427 � C, and 454 � C heat-treated
disk specimen consisted of upper bainite as shown in Fig. 2 [22].
3.2. Hardness measurements
Before running the tribo-tests, the shot peening effect on the disk
surface hardness was studied using the Vickers hardness tester. The
hardness values for the disk specimen surfaces are presented in Table 2.
Shot peening results in higher hardness on the mixed/upper bainite of
371 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens, but not on the lower bainite
of 288 � C–343 � C austempered disk specimens. Shot peening was more
effective on the lower hardness disk specimen surfaces than on the
higher hardness specimen surfaces.
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3.3. Analysis of residual stress profile
All disk specimens had X-ray diffraction residual stress measure­
ments on the disk surface for different heat-treated AISI 5160 disk
specimens after shot peening and polishing, as seen in Fig. 3. It is the
residual stresses that are present after polishing which will affect the
tribological performance of the disk specimens. Generally, disk speci­
mens with shot peening result in approximately 500 MPa–600 MPa
higher compressive residual stress than disk specimens without shot
peening.
3.4. Friction behavior
Fig. 4 shows the average coefficient of friction and standard devia­
tion for the disk specimens with/without shot peening. The as-received
X. Han et al. Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197

Fig. 5. 3D profiles showing the wear on the (a) ball run with 288 � C austempered specimen without shot peening, (b) ball run with 288 � C austempered specimen
with shot peening, (c) ball run with 316 � C austempered specimen without shot peening, (d) ball run with 316 � C austempered specimen with shot peening, (e) ball
run with of 399 � C austempered specimen with shot peening, (f) ball run with 399 � C austempered specimen without shot peening, (g) ball run with of 427 � C
austempered specimen with shot peening, (h) ball run with 427 � C austempered specimen without shot peening.

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X. Han et al. Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197

Table 4 roughness changes were calculated by taking the surface roughness

Change of disk specimens roughness, Ra, after tests (μm). before tests minus the surface roughness after tests. Results are shown in
Shot Peened -T Change of Non-Shot Peened -T Change of Table 4. Therefore, a positive number means the surface of the disk
(� C) Roughness (� C) Roughness specimens become smoother than the surface before tests. Negative
As received 1.46 As received 4.78 numbers mean the surface of disk specimens become rougher than the
288 0.079 288 0.109 surface before tests. All the as received and mixed/upper bainite of 371
316 0.073 316 0.077 �
C–454 � C austempered disk specimens surface produced rougher sur­
343 0.085 343 0.073 faces. However, the lower bainite of the 288 � C–343 � C austempered
371 0.336 371 0.440
399 0.395 399 0.211
disk specimens produced smoother surfaces, except the 343 � C aus­
427 0.196 427 0.325 tempered disk specimens with shot peening results in a slightly rougher
454 1.623 454 0.283 surface but it is much smoother than the mixed/upper bainite of 371
�
C–454 � C austempered disk specimens.

disk specimens with/without shot peening produced higher coefficient

of friction for all cases except the 399 � C austempered disk specimens.
For the lower/mixed bainite for 288 � C–371 � C austempered disk
specimens, the disk specimens with shot peening produced slightly
lower or similar coefficient of friction as compared to specimens without
shot peening. However, upper bainite for 399 � C–454 � C austempered
disk specimens with shot peening produced higher coefficient of friction
than disk specimens without shot peening. The 399 � C austempered disk
specimens with shot peening produced the highest coefficient of friction.
3.5. Ball surfaces
After tribo-tests, the surface of the balls was studied using 3D optical
profiles. Negligible wear occurred on the ball specimens. Disk material is
seen on all ball specimens indicating adhesive wear was taking place on
the disk specimens, see Fig. 5. The amount of adhered material observed
on the balls was approximately the same except for the ball run against
288 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening which had less
adhered material compared with the other specimens. The adhered
material on the ball does not have a uniform distribution, so it is hard to
measure quantitatively.
3.6. Roughness measurements
Before and after tribo-tests, the arithmetic average roughness, Ra,
was measured using the 3D profilometer. The roughness of each wear
track was measured at least five times at the different locations. The
3.7. Wear performance
The average wear volume with standard deviations are shown for all
specimens in Fig. 6. All the austempered disk specimens except for the
austempered 399 � C disk specimens produced lower wear volume than
the as-received disk specimens. Lower bainite of 288 � C–371 � C aus­
tempered disk specimens with shot peening produced lower wear vol­
ume than non-shot peened disk specimens, except for the 343 � C
austempered disk specimens which produced similar wear volume on
the disk specimens with or without shot peening. However, upper
bainite of 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening
produced higher wear volume than specimens without shot peening. In
addition, 399 � C and 427 � C austempered disk specimens with shot
peening produced significantly higher wear volume as compared to the
other austempered specimens with/without shot peening. The hardness
of the subsurface is too weak to prevent the surface from deforming
which results in cracks and the production of wear debris for the as-
received disks and 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening. Therefore, as-received disks and 399 � C–454 � C austem­
pered disk specimens with shot peening results in higher wear volume
than that of disk specimens without shot peening. These mechanisms are
described in detail in the following sections.
3.8. Wear scars
Fig. 7 show surface images of the pile-up produced on the as-received
and austempered disk specimens by using 3D optical profiles. Pile-up

Fig. 6. Wear volume of shot/non-shot peened specimens for various austempered temperatures. (0 is as-received specimen, NSP - disk specimens without shot
peening, SP - disk specimens with shot peening).

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X. Han et al. Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197

Fig. 7. Surface profiles across the wear tracks on the: a) as-received disk specimen, b) 288 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening, c) 316 � C
austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening, d) 343 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening, e) 371 � C austempered disk specimens
with/without shot-peening, f) 399 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening, g) 427 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening, h)
454 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot-peening.

7
X. Han et al.
Fig. 8. Unworn (a) as-received disk specimens without shot peening, (b) as-received disk specimens with shot peening (c) 399 � C austempered disk specimens
without shot peening (d) 399 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening (The lines show the plastic deformation area).
was observed on the edges of all wear tracks of disk specimens indicating
that plowing produced plastic flow of material. 288 � C/316 � C/343 � C
austempered disk specimens with shot peening produced slightly higher
pile-up than the disk specimens without shot peening, see Fig. 7b–d.
From the wear track profiles, the pile-up volume of the disks with shot
peening was estimated to be approximately three-fourths of the volu­
metric loss of the material from the wear track. However, the pile-up
volume is approximately one-fourth of the total of volume loss of the
disks without shot peening. Fig. 7e shows 371 � C austempered disk
specimens with or without shot peening produced similar pile-up, but
the pile up volume of disk specimens with shot peening was approxi­
mately three-fourths of the volumetric loss of the material from the wear
track which is higher than the pile up of disks without shot peening
which had two-thirds volumetric loss due to pile-up. The pile-up and
debris combine to produce the total wear volume. Hence, the 288 � C/
316 � C/343 � C/371 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening
produced less debris than disks without shot peening. Therefore, the
288 � C/316 � C/343 � C/371 � C austempered disk specimens without shot
peening had higher wear depth than disks with shot peening due to the
generation of more third body wear particles during the sliding tribo-
tests.
The as-received disk specimens show the highest pile up among the
tested disks, and the as-received disk specimens with shot peening
produced similar pile-up as specimens without shot peening, see Fig. 7a.
The pile-up volume was estimated to be approximately two-thirds of the
volumetric loss of the material from the wear track. Fig. 7f and g shows
399 � C/427 � C austempered disks with shot peening produced slightly
higher pile-up than disks without shot peening. The pile-up volume of
399 � C/427 � C austempered disks without shot peening was approxi­
mately two-thirds of the volumetric loss of the material from the wear
track. However, the pile up volume of 399 � C/427 � C austempered disks
with shot peening is only one-third/half of the total volume loss of the
material. Therefore, 399 � C/427 � C austempered disks with shot peening
generated more debris and higher wear depth than the disk without shot
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peening. However, the 454 � C austempered disks with shot peening
produced similar pile-up as the disks without shot peening. Thus, the as-
received disks with/without shot peening and 454 � C austempered disks
with/without shot peening produced the debris which is approximately
two-thirds of the volumetric loss of the material from the wear track, see
Fig. 7a and 7h.
In addition, the 288 � C/316 � C/343 � C austempered disks with/
without shot peening generated lower wear and less pile-up than as-
received disks with/without shot peening and 371 � C/399 � C/343/
427 � C/454 � C austempered disk with/without shot peening. This is
because 288 � C/316 � C/343 � C austempered disks with/without shot
peening have higher hardness than that of as-received disks with/
without shot peening and 371 � C/399 � C/343/427 � C/454 � C austem­
pered disk with/without shot peening.
3.9. Strain layer observation
Fig. 8 shows the typical photos of strain layers which are observed in
the cross-section of unworn disk specimens. All the highlighted lines
show the plastic deformation direction. No observable plastic defor­
mation occurred on the as-received disk specimens without shot peening
as shown in Fig. 8a. However, as-received disk specimens with shot
peening produced a plastic deformation layer as shown in Fig. 8b.
Fig. 8d shows that a plastic deformation layer was produced on 399 � C
austempered disk specimens with shot peening, but 399 � C austempered
specimens without shot peening had no plastic deformation layer, see
Fig. 8c. However, an obvious plastic deformation layer caused by shot
peening is not observed on the 228 � C–343 � C austempered disk speci­
mens with lower bainite. This is because the lower bainite of the 228
�
C–343 � C austempered disk specimens with high hardness resulted in a
thinner strain layer than mixed/upper bainite due to shot peening. It is
likely the strain layer produced on the 228 � C–343 � C austempered disk
specimens after the shot peening process was too thin to be observed by
SEM. However, the high compressive residual stress provided evidence
X. Han et al.
Fig. 9. Smearing wear of (a) as-received disk specimens without shot peening, (b) as-received disk specimens with shot peening, (c) 343 � C austempered disk
specimens without shot peening, (d) 343 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening, (e) 427 � C austempered disk specimens without shot peening, (f) 427 � C
austempered disk specimens with shot peening.
that a thin plastic deformation layer was produced. Also, it indicated
that a severe plastic deformation layer of austempered disk specimens
without shot peening was formed during the sliding wear. However, a
plastic deformation layer of austempered disk specimens with shot
peening was formed during the shot peening process and sliding wear. It
thus seems that the shot peened disk specimens with lower bainite or
mixed bainite reduced severe plastic deformation produced by sliding
wear and produced less wear but was not effective for the shot peened
treated disk specimens with upper bainite or pearlite.
3.10. microscopy observations & SEM observations
Fig. 9a – 9f show the typical severe smearing which was observed on
all the disk specimens during the tribo-tests. The as-received disk spec­
imens without shot peening had higher amount of smeared wear than
disk specimens with shot peening. Hence, the as-received disk specimens
without shot peening produced higher coefficient of friction than disk
specimens with shot peening, Fig. 9a-b. 288 � C/316 � C/343 � C/371 � C
austempered disk specimens with shot peening had lower/similar
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coefficient of friction than disk specimens without shot peening due to
the lower or similar amount of smeared wear which occurred on the shot
peened disk specimens as compared to non-shot peened disk specimens.
Typical photos of smearing wear are shown in Fig. 9c-d. However,
generally, the 399 � C/427 � C/454 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening had higher coefficient of friction than disk specimens
without shot peening, because the shot peened disk specimens had
higher amount of smearing wear than disk specimens without shot
peening. Smearing wear was the main wear mechanism all for the disk
specimens.
The plastic deformation layer of wear scars was observed by optical
microscopy and SEM after the tribo-tests. Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show the
typical plastic deformation layers, the dash lines show the plastic
deformation area, the red solid line indicates where the white area was
located in Fig. 10, and the red solid line indicates where the cracks were
located in Fig. 11. The as-received specimens with shot peening and 399
�
C–454 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening had a thicker
plastic deformation layer than specimens without shot peening, see
Fig. 10a, b, and 11c-h. However, 288 � C–371 � C austempered disk
X. Han et al.
specimens with shot peening results in a slightly thinner plastic defor­
mation layer than 288 � C–371 � C austempered disk specimens without
shot peening, the typical pictures are shown in Fig. 10c,d,11a, and 11b.
Before the tribo-tests, specimens without shot peening did not have a
plastic deformation layer. The shot peened samples containing pearlite/
upper bainite had a deformation layer which was up to 10–12 μm thick.
The shot peened samples with lower bainite had no obvious deformation
layer. After the tribo-tests, all specimens had a deformation layer. The
wear depth for the shot-peened pearlite/upper bainite specimens was
20–40 μm. Therefore, the deformation layer thickness seen on all spec­
imens after testing was produced by the wear process. The severe plastic
deformation caused higher wear volumetric loss from the wear track.
This is because the hardness of the subsurface is too weak to prevent the
surface from deforming which results in cracks and the production of
wear debris for the as-received disks and 399 � C–454 � C austempered
disk specimens with shot peening. Also, lower bainite and upper bainite
both contain the aggregates of small plates or laths of ferrite, however,
upper bainite forms at high temperature which allows the excess carbon
to partition before it can precipitate in the ferrite. Hence, upper bainite
produced low strength and poor shock resistance. But some of the car­
bon of lower bainite precipitates in the supersaturated ferrite due to the
reduced transformation temperature resulting in slower diffusion,
hence, lower bainite is produced with more uniform carbide distribution
and higher hardness. Upper bainite is brittle and has lower hardness, but
lower bainite has high ductility and higher hardness. Therefore, shot
peening is effective for the 288 � C–371 � C austempered disk specimens
but not the 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens. 399 � C aus­
tempered disk specimens with shot peening results in the highest plastic
deformation among all the tested disk specimens, therefore, it produced
the highest wear volume.
White areas on wear scars were observed by optical microscopy for
as-received disk specimens with/without shot peening, 316 � C austem­
pered disk specimens without shot peening, 399 � C austempered disk
specimens with shot peening, 427 � C austempered disk specimens
without shot peening, and 427 � C austempered disk specimens with shot
peening, shown in Fig. 10a, b and 12. For lower bainite of 288 � C aus­
tempered disk specimens with/without shot peening, the white areas are
seldom observed. The white areas were observed inside wear scars of
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Fig. 10. Microscopy showing the microstruc­
tures inside wear scars on (a) as-received disk
specimen without shot peening, (b) As-received
disk specimen with shot peening, (c) 288 � C
austempered disk specimens without shot peen­
ing, (d) 288 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening (The dash lines show the plastic
deformation area, and the red solid lines indicate
where the white areas are located). (For inter­
pretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the Web version
of this article.)
316 � C austempered disk specimens without shot peening, but not with
shot peening. Large white areas were observed inside wear scars of 399
�
C and 427 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening, however,
427 � C austempered disk specimens without shot peening produced
smaller white areas compared with that of disk specimens with shot
peening.
The white area hardness of 399 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening was measured using a Vickers hardness tester. The white
area hardness is 52HRC which is much higher than the original surface
of 399 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening. The hardness
increased due to the frictions sliding producing high temperature during
the tests. The heating due to severe plastic deformation results in more
austenite. Some of the pearlite or bainite transforms to austenite at high
temperature. This is because when the ball and disk are not in contact
the frictional heat self-quenches into the subsurface of the ball and disk
which causes the high temperature of the two sliding surfaces to rapidly
reduce with the result that austenite transforms to martensite. Similar
white areas with high hardness were also observed by many researchers
[23–27]. Also, Zammit et al. [23] and Sharma [28] have shown that
metastable austenite transforms to martensite during their wear tests.
Fig. 11c–h and Fig. 13 shows white areas in the worn disk specimens
microstructure which were analyzed by the SEM. It shows cracks appear
in the white areas. This because even though the fresh martensite can
improve the strength of the tested surface, it is brittle and easy to crack.
The severe plastic deformation produced the initiation of cracks, then
propagation of cracks results in severe wear since it results in wear
debris which leads to three-body abrasive wear. The as-received disk
specimens with shot peening result in longer cracks than the disk
specimens without shot peening. The 316 � C/371 � C austempered disk
specimens without shot peening results in cracks, but no cracks were
observed on the disk specimens with shot peening. However, 399 � C
austempered disk specimens or as received disk specimens with shot
peening results in more severe cracks than the disk specimens without
shot peening. 399 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening
result in the most cracks among all the tested disk specimens. The most
debris occurred on the 399 � C austempered disk specimens with shot
peening. Therefore, it produced the highest coefficient of friction and
the highest wear volume. The higher number of cracks and debris result
X. Han et al.
in more three-body abrasive wear which will increase friction coeffi­
cient, due to the additional friction force required to plough the abrasive
grooves on the specimens. Cracks were also present on 427 � C austem­
pered disk specimens with shot peening, rather than 427 � C austem­
pered disk specimens without shot peening.
The shot peening produced a thinner compressive residual stress
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Tribology International 145 (2020) 106197
Fig. 11. Plastic deformation produced inside
wear scars of (a) 316 � C austempered specimens
without shot peening, (b) 316 � C austempered
specimens with shot peening, (c) 399 � C aus­
tempered disk specimens without shot peening,
(d) 399 � C austempered disk specimens with shot
peening, (e) 427 � C austempered disk specimens
without shot peening, (f) 427 � C austempered
disk specimens with shot peening, (g) 454 � C
austempered disk specimens without shot peen­
ing, (h) 454 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening. (The dash lines show the plastic
deformation area, and the red solid lines indicate
where the cracks are located). (For interpretation
of the references to colour in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the Web version of this
article.)
region on the lower bainite and mixed bainite of 288 � C–371 � C aus­
tempered disk specimens, due to the high hardness of the disk speci­
mens. Therefore, during the sliding tests, the 288 � C–371 � C
austempered disk specimens with shot peening produced less wear
debris and a thinner plastic deformation layer than non-shot peened disk
specimens. Even though shot peening produced compressive residual
X. Han et al.
Fig. 13. Cracks on (a) as -received disk specimen without shot peening, (b) as -received disk specimen with shot peening, (c) 316 � C austempered disk specimens
without shot peening, (d) 371 � C austempered disk specimens without shot peening.
stress/higher hardness on the surface of the upper bainite of 399 � C–454
�
C austempered disk specimens and the pearlite of as-received disk
specimens, the subsurface of the disks are not hard enough to support
the top surface and results in wear. Thus, the 399 � C–454 � C austem­
pered disk specimens with shot peening and the as-received disk spec­
imens with shot peening results in higher wear volume than the disk
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Fig. 12. Optical photos showing microstructures
(a) inside wear scars of 316 � C austempered disk
specimens without shot peening, (b) inside wear
scars of 399 � C austempered disk specimens with
shot peening, (c) inside wear scars of 427 � C
austempered disk specimens without shot peen­
ing, (d) inside wear scars of 427 � C austempered
disk specimens with shot peening. (The red solid
lines indicate where the white areas are located).
(For interpretation of the references to colour in
this figure legend, the reader is referred to the
Web version of this article.)
specimens without shot peening due to the severe plastic deformation
and higher abrasive wear caused by more debris. Adhesive wear, plastic
smearing, and abrasive wear are the main wear mechanisms resulting in
material loss from the wear track for all the disks.
288 � C–371 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot
peening produced lower wear volume than 399 � C–454 � C austempered
X. Han et al.
disk specimens. This is because the higher hardness of lower or mixed
bainite of 288 � C–371 � C austempered disk specimens with/without shot
peening resists plastic deformation and wear. 288 � C–371 � C austem­
pered disk specimens with shot peening had better wear resistance due
to compressive stress preventing crack initiation/propagation. However,
399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens with shot peening and upper
bainite had higher wear volume and more white layer/cracks. This is
due to the shot peening producing higher hardness with lower ductility;
hence, more cracks, more debris, and more wear was produced. Also, the
sub-surfaces of 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens with shot
peening/upper bainite are too weak to support the hardened surface
layers and more plastic deformation occurred.
4. Conclusions
Shot peening treatment was applied to austempered AISI 5160
specimens. The disk specimens were run against 52100 steel balls in
order to investigate the tribological performance. The following con­
clusions can be drawn based on the experiments performed:
(1) Shot peening results in a observable plastic deformation layer on
the as-received disk specimens and as received disk specimens
and 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens, but not on the
harder 288 � C–343 � C austempered disk specimens
(2) For several disk specimens, the hardness of the top surface
increased due to the friction sliding producing high temperature
during the tests. The heating due to severe plastic deformation
results in more austenite. Some of the pearlite or bainite trans­
forms to austenite at high temperature. This is because when the
ball and disk are not in contact the frictional heat self-quenches
into the subsurface of the ball and disk which causes the high
temperature of the two sliding surfaces to rapidly reduce with the
result that austenite transforms to martensite.
(3) Shot peening produced higher hardness on specimens austem­
pered from 371 � C to 454 � C with mixed bainite or upper bainite
and as -received specimens with pearlite, but shot peening was
not effective in increasing hardness of 288 � C–343 � C austem­
pered specimens with lower bainite. This is because the lower
bainite had higher hardness. However, the shot peening was
effective in producing compressive residual stresses in the 288
�
C–343 � C austempered specimens.
(4) Generally, 288 � C–343 � C austempered specimens with shot
peening resulted in slightly lower or similar coefficient of friction
as compared to 288 � C–343 � C austempered specimens without
shot peening due to the 288 � C–343 � C austempered specimens
with shot peening generating less smearing wear during the wear
tests. However, 399 � C–454 � C austempered specimens or as
-received specimens with shot peening produced higher coeffi­
cient of friction than 399 � C–454 � C austempered disk specimens
without shot peening due to a higher amount of smearing wear.
(5) Lower bainite of 288 � C/316 � C/343 � C austempered disk spec­
imens with shot peening produced lower wear volumes of
approximately 59%/73%/5% compared with the 288 � C/316 � C/
343 � C austempered disk specimens without shot peening,
respectively. These results have high implication in the use of
shot peening and could be applied to enhance component per­
formance and material sustainability.
(6) Mixed bainite of 371 � C austempered specimens with shot
peening results in 19% lower wear volume than that of 371 � C
austempered specimens without shot peening. Upper bainite of as
received/399 � C/427 � C/454 � C austempered specimens without
shot peening produced lower wear volumes which were
approximately 15%/61%/34%/8% lower than that of 399 � C/
427 � C/454 � C austempered specimens with shot peening,
respectively. This is because the weak subsurface of the upper
bainite specimens cannot support the hard surfaces.
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(7) Adhesion wear, abrasive wear, and plastic smearing are the main
wear mechanisms resulting in material loss from the wear track
on all the disks. No detectable wear was observed on the ball
specimens.
Authors contribution
Xue Han carried out the designing, sample preparations, testing,
measuring, analyzing, and writing. Gary Barber and Feng Qiu partici­
pated in modify the manuscript and provide the suggestions. Zhenpu
Zhang carried out the testing and analyzing as well, participated in the
sample preparations, modify the pictures and diagrams. Jiuyu Hou
carried out the sample preparations.
Declaration of competing interest
We declare no financial and personal relationships with organiza­
tions and other people. Also, there is no conflicts of interest to this work.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Automotive Tribology Center at
Oakland University, USA and Science and Technology Development
Program of Jilin Province, China (20190302004GX).
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