Tribological, Corrosion, and Microstructural Features of Laser-Shock-Peened Steels

The degradation due to high friction, wear, and corrosion of mechanical components for industrial applications has invoked substantial economic loss. In recent years, scientists and engineers have developed techniques to mitigate the issues associated with this deterioration potentially. Among these developed techniques, controlling the coefficient of friction (COF), wear rate, and corrosion using laser shock peening (LSP) is a preeminent and popular innovation. This paper aims to summarize the existing literature on the LSP of steels, discuss the current state-of-the-art LSP, and demonstrate the mechanisms that dictate the enhanced tribological and corrosion properties. More specifically, the influence of LSP on COF, wear rate, corrosion potential, surface hardening, and surface morphological changes on various materials used for aerospace, automotive, biomedical, nuclear, and chemical applications is explained. In addition, grain refinement and the gradient microstructure formation during LSP are discussed. Additionally, recent advances and applications of LSP are elucidated.