Abstract
Cavitation impacts by high-speed water jet can be used to modify the residual stress in materials as a water shot peening method. High level of compressive residual stress has been generated under the surface of materials by using water cavitation technique. In the present paper, a helical gear of SCR420H steel was processed by water peening process after heat treatment. The residual stresses on the tooth surface of the gear and at various depths under the tooth surface were measured by X-ray diffraction method. The area of peening zone, level of introduced residual stress, depth of compresive stress layer and effect of peening time were invesgated. By comparing the residual stresses of the tooth before and after water peening, the effectiveness of water peening process was verified for a quenched gear.
