Fatigue properties of a biomedical 316L steel processed by surface mechanical attrition

Abstract

This work deals with the influence of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) on fatigue properties of a medical grade 316L stainless steel. Metallurgical parameters governed by SMAT such as micro-hardness and nanocrystalline layer are characterized using different techniques. Low cycle fatigue tests are performed to investigate the fatigue properties of untreated and SMAT-processed samples. The results show that the stress amplitude of SMAT- processed samples with two different treatment intensities is significantly enhanced compared to untreated samples, while the fatigue strength represented by the number of cycles to failure is not improved in the investigated strain range. The enhancement in the stress amplitude of treated samples can be attributed to the influence of the SMAT affected layer. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.