Wear resistance of copper improved by laser shock peening

In order to improve the wear resistance of copper, laser shock peening is put forward. The wear performances of copper with and without laser shock peening are measured by the ball milling experiment. The phase structure and grain distribution of the surface layer with and without annealing are tested and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD). The mechanism of wear resistance improvement is discussed. The results indicate that after LSP, the specific wearability of copper has reduced by 19.5 percent compared with the sample untreated. Simultaneously, the initial friction coefficient of copper increases with the surface roughness increasing, but with the friction cycle increasing, the coefficient of friction declines obviously. Because of the grains refining, twin and sub-structure which block dislocation motion and increase the deformation resistance, the wear resistance of copper treated by LSP is improved.