Shot Peening
Strength and performance matter when it comes to the integrity of parts and spring components. Through the process of shot peening, the service life of a component can be extended by increasing resistance to fatigue. By understanding how shot peening works and why it is used, you can make smarter decisions when it comes to how your parts are manufactured.
What is Shot Peening?
Shot peening is a cold work process used to finish metal parts. Shot peening creates compressive residual stress on a part that in turn, alters the material’s properties to strengthen the part’s durability, increase resistance to fatigue and reduce stress, and lengthen its lifespan.
The shot peening process works by striking the material’s surface with round metallic, glass or ceramic particles (or shots), using enough force to generate plastic deformation. As a group of shots impact the material’s surface, many indentations are made, causing the component to be encased by a compressed stressed layer on its surface.
The process of shot peening is also one of the most efficient and economical methods to strengthen your parts. It is also used to improve wear characteristics, straighten distortions, create uniform surface texture, and generate aerodynamic curvatures.
Which is Better: Shot Peening vs. Shot Blasting?
There are a few main differences between shot peening and shot blasting. It is important to consider your component’s final application and requirements when choosing a manufacturing process.
Shot blasting is used to modify a component’s surface using abrasion. Through the use of abrasive particles, a rough surface can be smoothed, a smooth surface can be roughened, or a surface can be shaped. Shot blasting works at excessively high speeds to remove unwanted elements. These high speeds can make it more of a difficult process to control if precision is required. While shot blasting may be useful in some applications, it may distort close tolerance parts.
Shot peening, on the other hand, focuses on improving a component’s surface through compressive stress. The shot peening process allows for more control and even in complex parts, shot peening can improve the strength and fatigue resistance of a component.
At Mid-West Spring and Stamping, we value quality part production and strict adherence to component specifications, so we only use shot peening in our spring manufacturing process. The shot peening process allows our engineers and operators to maintain control over the entire part manufacturing process to ensure your custom part is produced up to standard.
Shot Peening Quality Process
Many industries can reap the benefits of shot peening, including medical, aerospace and automotive. Whatever your application needs, allow Mid-West Spring and Stamping to create the custom spring for the job. As a premier custom springs manufacturer, we craft compression springs in a variety of compression types, shapes, and materials to your individual specifications.
In our shot peening process, our shot media is sorted and separated using mechanical shakers to remove nonconforming pieces to ensure we only use shot media of consistent shape and hardness. Shot peening is more effective in producing parts and components with increased durability, greater surface hardness, higher resistance to extreme temperatures, tighter part tolerances, longer part usability and lifespan, and better resistance to fatigue when compared to shot blasting.
Our team will partner with you to design your custom spring or component. Our engineers and machinists are involved at each step of the shot peening process to ensure your custom component is manufactured correctly. Once your part is created, it is rigorously tested and inspected to make sure it passes industry standards.
Mid-West Spring and Stamping is committed to creating more value for our customers with fewer resources through continuous improvement and the elimination of waste. Join the multitudes of customers who rely on us to optimize the fit, form, and function for their desired outcomes at a competitive cost.
Want to learn more about our shot peening capabilities for your next project? Request a quote today!