Functional properties of hardened steel parts generated by turning and ball burnishing operations

This paper presents the experimental results of the role of ball burnishing in improving of the surface integrity produced in finish hard machining of hardened 41Cr4 steel. The characterization of the surface integrity includes two standardized sets of 2D and 3D roughness parameters, the distributions of microhardness, residual stresses and the microstucture of the sublayer which was examined using SEM/EDS technique. The functional properties of the surface layer were predicted and discussed. This study reveals that ball burnishing performed on hard turned surfaces improves not only surface roughness but also results in better service properties compared with those generated by CBN hard turning.