The present paper aims to investigate the effect of ultrasonic peening treatment on the very high cycle fatigue resistance of an AA7075 friction stir welded joint. Microscopy observation, microhardness and X‐ray diffraction measurements were carried out to characterize the treated surface of peened specimens. Fatigue crack initiation sites were investigated through scanning electron microscope, and the role of enhanced surface on fatigue resistance was analyzed. The results indicate that a sensible fatigue strength improvement can be obtained through application of ultrasonic peening treatment and that fatigue cracks can initiate from the interior of the specimen. To clarify the fatigue failure mechanism, we analyzed the microstructure characteristics, compressive residual stress profile and intermetallic inclusion distribution in the surface layers, and we discussed the capability of ultrasonic peening treatment to hinder the surface crack initiation.
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