Services - Shot Peening

Elgamec has many years experience in the world of shot peening. All our processes are carried out by hand, which provides the same high standard of process and finish each time.

Shot peening is a controlled process used to increase the fatigue life of components and fabrication.

The process of shot peening creates a compressive surface layer that extends into the material and has the effect of reducing any subsequent tensile fatigue loads. It is used as a final process post heat treatment and post final machining except in special cases.

We can shot peen a range of components from small milled or turned parts to large fabrications and castings, from one off to multiple batches.

If you have a specific requirement or application then contact us and we will be happy to help. We pride ourselves on quality of service and quick turnaround. All our work is returned with a certificate of conformity.

What is shot peening?

Shot peening is a cold working process in which small spherical media called shot bombard the surface of a part. During the shot peening process, each piece of shot that strikes the material acts as a tiny peening hammer, imparting to the surface a small indentation or dimple. To create the dimple, the surface of the material must yield in tension. Below the surface, the material tries to restore its original shape, thereby producing below the dimple, a hemisphere of cold-worked material highly stressed in compression.

Nearly all fatigue and stress corrosion failures originate at the surface of a part, but cracks will not initiate or propagate in a compressively stressed zone. Because the overlapping dimples from shot peening create a uniform layer of compressive stress at metal surfaces, shot peening provides considerable increases in part life. Compressive stresses are beneficial in increasing resistance to fatigue failures, corrosion fatigue, stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen assisted cracking, fretting, galling and erosion caused by cavitation.

In most modes of long-term failure, the common denominator is tensile stress. Tensile stresses attempt to stretch or pull the surface apart and may eventually lead to crack initiation. Because crack growth is slowed significantly in a compressive layer, increasing the depth of this layer increases crack resistance. Shot peening is the most economical and practical method of ensuring surface residual compressive stresses.

If you would like to view some examples of our work, please visit our Examples page,