Strengthening of ceramics by shot peening

Shot peening is a common finishing procedure to improve the static and cyclic strength of metal components. Recent investigations showed that, under specific shot peening conditions, also in brittle ceramics high compressive stresses up to more than 1 GPa can be introduced near the surface which increase the near-surface strength. The presentation compiles the actual potential of the shot peening process for alumina and silicon nitride ceramics and gives detailed information about the influence of shot peening parameters on the residual stress state, dislocation density and topography. The effect of the residual stresses on the static and cyclic near-surface strength is quantified. In addition, the potential of shot peening for a recovery of machining induced damage is shown.