Book excerpt: The only comprehensive, systematic comparison of major mechanical surface treatments, their effects, and the resulting material properties. The result is an up-to-date, full review of this topic, collating the knowledge hitherto spread throughout many original papers. The book begins with a description of elementary processes and mechanisms to give readers an easy introduction, before proceeding to offer systematic, detailed descriptions of the various techniques and three very important types of loading: thermal, quasistatic, and cyclic loading. It combines and correlates experimental and model aspects, while supplying in-depth explanations of the mechanisms and a very high amount of exemplary data.