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In this study, an innovative surface treatment method, electropulsing assisted laser shock peening (EP-LSP), was used to process Ti64 samples. In EP-LSP, metallic samples are subjected to simultaneous high strain rate plastic deformation and high-frequency (100–500 Hz) short-duration (100 μs) pulsed electric current. The effects of EP-LSP on surface finish, microstructure, and micro-hardness of Ti64 alloy were investigated and compared with continuous current assisted LSP (CC-LSP) having the same bulk heating effect. It was observed that EP-LSP produced higher surface hardness and deeper hardened layer, both of which indicate greater plastic deformation. Tensile tests were carried out to evaluate the plasticity of Ti64 subjected to pulsed current and continuous current with the same bulk heating effect. It was observed that pulsed current can more effectively decrease the flow stress and thus resulted in greater plasticity in Ti64 compared with continuous current, even though the bulk heating effect was the same. In addition, the higher the peak current density, the more effective the flow stress reduction. As a result, pulsed current can more effectively improve the effectiveness of LSP treatment, as manifested by higher surface hardness and deeper plastic deformation layer. It is believed that an athermal effect in addition to the thermal effect related to pulsed current exists in EP-LSP. • EP-LSP results in higher surface hardness and deeper hardened layer compared with LSP. • Higher peak current density leads to more effective EP-LSP treatment. • Pulsed current is more effective in improving the plasticity of Ti64 compared with continuous current. • An athermal effect that cannot be explained by resistive heating exists in EP-LSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of peening treatment depends on the plasticity of the target metal. In this study, the effectiveness of high-amplitude short duration pulsed current in improving the peening efficacy was examined in a process called electropulsing-assisted ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (EP-UNSM). During the EP-UNSM process, the target metal, i.e., Ti64, is subjected to simultaneous ultrasonic peening and electropulsing. The high energy pulsed current can generate a critical magnetic field that can induce the transition of the radical pairs formed by dislocations and the pinning obstacles from the singlet state to the triplet state. This leads to higher dislocation mobility and thus higher plasticity for more effective peening treatment. The results show that the sample treated with EP-UNSM had a deeper plastically deformed layer than that for samples subjected to UNSM and continuous current–assisted UNSM (CC-UNSM), and the maximum depth of plastic deformation was obtained when using the highest peak current density. Due to microstructure refinement, work hardening, and dynamic strain aging, the EP-UNSM sample had a 50% higher surface hardness compared with the control sample. Moreover, the compressive residual stresses generated by EP-UNSM were higher in magnitude and greater in depth compared to those generated by traditional UNSM. These results demonstrate that pulsed current can effectively improve the peening efficacy and EP-UNSM is an effective method for strengthening Ti64. • Pulsed current leads to higher dislocation mobility and thus higher plasticity for more effective peening treatment. • EP-UNSM generates a gradient nanocrystalline layer in Ti64. • EP-USM results in high surface hardness and higher residual stress magnitude and depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]