The life prediction of notched aluminum alloy specimens after laser shock peening by TCD

The effect of Laser shock peening (LSP) on the fatigue life of notched metallic specimens is studied. LSP is applied to notched specimens made of two aluminum alloys and the fatigue tests are carried out. The stress field at the notch is both measured by X-ray diffractometer and simulated through numerical methods. The highest compressive stress lies in the layer near but a little below the surface. A life prediction method is proposed by introducing the effective stress after LSP into the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD). The predicted results are in sound agreement with the test results.