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Impact of Laser Shock Processing on Microstructure and Tribological Performance of GCr15 Bearing Steel

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Abstract

In this study, GCr15 bearing steel with an ultrahigh strength was subjected to surface laser shock processing (LSP). The effects of the laser pulse energy (LPE) on the microstructure, microhardness, residual stress and tribological properties were studied systematically. The results indicated that the martensitic laths and carbide particles underwent severe plastic deformation and were refined into nanostructures. The grain refinement was aggravated with the increase of the LPE. A grain size of 50 nm was obtained on the sample’s surface by LSP at 7 J. Many dislocation tangles and deformation twins were formed, which led to an increase in the microhardness. Furthermore, LSP induced compressive residual stress (CRS) with a high amplitude on the sample’s surface. As the pulse energy of LSP rose, the impact layer of GCr15 steel deepened. The wear rate and the friction coefficient reduced, and the wear resistance increased as the LPE increased. The tribological properties of GCr15 steel were enhanced by the grain refinement and working hardening, and by the formation of a high CRS layer.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51905153 and U1804146).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National United Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Bearing Tribology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China

    Tiantian He, Tong Cui, Sanming Du & Yongzhen Zhang

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Nonferrous Metals, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China

    Tiantian He, Yi Xiong, Sanming Du & Yongzhen Zhang

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  1. Tiantian He
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  2. Tong Cui
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  3. Yi Xiong
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  4. Sanming Du
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Contributions

TH: Conception, Writing-Original draft preparation, Methodology, Visualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition. TC: Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Validation and Completion of experiment. YX: Experimental design, Investigation, Funding acquisition. SD and YZ: Manuscript modification, language proofing, Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

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Correspondence to Tiantian He.

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He, T., Cui, T., Xiong, Y. et al. Impact of Laser Shock Processing on Microstructure and Tribological Performance of GCr15 Bearing Steel. J. of Materi Eng and Perform (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-023-08454-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-023-08454-8

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