Nowadays, ball burnishing surface finish process is considered as one of the best alternative to increase fatigue lifespan of engineering components [1, 2]. Recent research works have demonstrated its effectiveness through three main parameters, decreasing surface roughness, increasing surface hardness and particularly generating surface compressive residual stresses [3, 4]. Usually, the burnishing process consists in sliding carbide or diamond tool in the form of roller or ball surface by applying pressure sufficient to create surface plastic deformation improving the surface integrity of the component. However, the performance of the burnishing process depends on the material and the geometry of the part, and also on the material and geometry of the burnishing tool together with the conditions of burnishing process that should be carefully selected [5, 6].
Recently Maximov et al [7] have devoted a review paper on state-of-the-art, achievements and perspectives of the slide burnishing of metal components. They have concluded that the majority of slide burnishing studies are focused on the study of surface integrity, where the attention is focused mostly on the roughness and microhardness, whereas, significantly less attention is paid to wear resistance and fatigue strength.
For instance, Rodríguez et al [8] in their investigation on surface improvement of shafts by the deep ball-burnishing technique have shown that ball-burnishing performs both physical and mechanical properties of turned parts by improving surface quality, increasing the hardness of the workpiece and introducing compressive residual stresses which are favorable for increasing the fatigue life of the piece and improve the wear resistance of the component. Moreover, they have pointed out that the most influencing parameter in the burnishing pressure which should be carefully selected rather than the burnishing speed and feed rate have little effect therefore maximum values should be used as the processing time can be significantly reduced.
Meanwhile, the interest to fatigue resistance is related to the beneficial effect of ball burnishing in generating compressive residual stress at the surface layers of a component [9, 10]. Amador et al [11] have carried investigation on ball burnishing effect on deep residual stress on AISI 1038 steel. Using hole drilling technique, they have shown that ball burnishing has proved to introduce relevant residual stress up to 0.6 mm depth which is very relevant in using the process as an industrial finishing process to improve the surface finish parts subjected to fatigue working regimes.
One the research work that is coherent with the effect ball burnishing on fatigue resistant is that reported by Sadeler et al [12]. They have investigated the influence of ball burnishing on fatigue behaviour of AISI 1045 steel and have demonstrated that the fatigue limit and fatigue life are improved by the burnishing finish process. R. Avilés et al [13] have studied the Influence of low-plasticity ball burnishing on the high-cycle fatigue strength of medium carbon AISI 1045 steel. .Throughout the investigation, they have provided experimental data and analyses of the surface roughness, fractography, in-depth residual stresses, and cyclic relaxation effect and have shown that the low-plasticity ball burnishing operation resulted in low surface roughness and significant improvement in fatigue strength
However the applied pressure should be sufficient to create residual deep compressive residual stress on the surface layers of the components. But in revolution parts, the fillet on cylinder shoulders is likely to be sensitive to crack initiation leading to fatigue failure. Travieso-Rodríguez et al [14] in their investigation on hardening effect and fatigue behaviour enhancement through ball burnishing on AISI 1038 steel, have presented a comprehensive study of the effects of ball burnishing on the low cycle fatigue endurance of cylindrical specimens subjected to alternative bending stress and evaluated the beneficial impact of the process on the general fatigue behaviour of AISI 1038 steel. Through five different force-number of passes. They proposed the most favourable results with respect to microhardness increase and fatigue lifespan. However, they have not presented the fatigue endurance and the effect of the shoulder fillet.
Therefore, the present work aims to produce better comprehension of the effect of slide diamond burnishing over a large span of testing cycles and the change in shoulder fillets. The contribution of the present work then consists in determining the effect of slide diamond burnishing on the fatigue endurance of a component made of AISI52100 steel. S-N curve are carried out on cylindrical specimens for untreated and ball burnished specimens. The applied pressure and slide diamond burnishing regimes are extrapolated from statistical experimental data. Results are compared to literature data.