The purpose of the present study was to verify the effectiveness of dry laser peening (DryLP), which is the peening technique without a sacrificial overlay under atmospheric conditions using femtosecond laser pulses on the mechanical properties such as hardness, residual stress, and fatigue performance of laser-welded 2024 aluminum alloy containing welding defects such as undercuts and blowholes. After DryLP treatment of the laser-welded 2024 aluminum alloy, the softened weld metal recovered to the original hardness of base metal, while residual tensile stress in the weld metal and heat-affected zone changed to compressive stresses. As a result, DryLP treatment improved the fatigue performances of welded specimens with and without the weld reinforcement almost equally.
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