Investigating the effect of the ultrasonic hammer peening on the wear properties of Aluminum alloy 6061

Nowadays, Aluminum alloys are chosen for various industrial applications due to their special properties and high corrosion resistance. By optimizing the surface properties of Aluminum alloys, the performance and reliability of using these materials can be effectively improved. Therefore, investigating the surface mechanical treatment has been the focus of researchers and various mechanical methods have been used to improve the surface characteristics of Aluminum alloys. Among these methods, ultrasonic hammer peening is a cold work process in which many impacts are applied to the surface of the sample in a short period with high frequency. In this research, the effect of ultrasonic hammer peening on the wear properties of Aluminum alloy Al6061-T6 has been investigated. To carry out the process of ultrasonic hammering, three parameters of vibration amplitude, rotational speed of the work piece, and feed rate of the tool were selected and their effect on the wear resistance was investigated. The obtained results showed that the ultrasonic hammer peening increased the surface hardness by about 141.4%. With the increase of the vibration amplitude and the feed rate, the wear resistance increased and the increase of the rotational speed decreased the wear resistance. The highest wear resistance has been obtained in the vibration amplitude of 11 µm, rotational speed of 500 rpm, and feed rate of 0.8 mm/rev. As a result, the wear resistance has increased by about 46% compared to the raw material in these conditions.