Shot peening is a complex and random process which is controlled by many input parameters. Numerical methods, which are normally used for impact problems will prohibitively put strain on the computing resources since a large number of impacts are involved in the computations. In this paper, a simplified analytical approach is used to predict the residual compressive stress that includes strain-rate effects. This is based on the method proposed by Shen and Atluri (2006) with a simple modification to include the strain rate effects. The residual stresses are predicted in materials SAE1070 and Inco718. In the computations, the random variation of the input parameters are simulated to predict the residual stress variation using the Monte-Carlo method. The stress distributions computed using the analytical method compare well with the direct numerical methods and the experimental results. © 2010 Tech Science Press.