A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS OF LASER HARDENING IN CARBON STEELS (original) (raw)
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1986
The results of experiments and FEM-simulation on laser surface hardening of a medium carbon steel are described. A 2-dimensional computer program, which can be used generally for the determination of transient temperature distributions in welding and surface heat treatment, was used in the first place to investigate the effects of traverse speed and beam spot diameter on the shape and size of hardened zones. For the confirmation of the accuracy of the numerical analysis a medium carbon steel of 5 mm thickness was heat-treated with a 1 kW CO2 laser. A simulation scheme for the cooling time and the corresponding CCT-diagram showed that the cooling rate is high enough to consider the heated zone above the Acl temperature as the martensitic hardening zone. With proper assumption of the absorptivity the numerical and experimental shape and size of hardened zones were in good agreement. The numerical analysis showed that with increasing beam spot diameter the width and depth of the harden...
American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2013
The present study aims to improve the surface hardness of carbon steel by application of laser surface melting of effective conditions. The travelling speed of laser beam during this treatment is one of the important treatment conditions. This study aims to investigate the effect of laser surface melting with different beam speeds on macro and microstructure as well as the hardness distribution through the thickness of carbon steel. To achieve this target, three different travelling speeds (1500, 1000 and 500 mm min −1) at a constant beam power of 800 W were chosen in this study. The resulted laser treated specimens were investigated in macro and microscopically scale using optical and scanning electron microscope. Hardness measurements were also carried out through the thickness of the laser treated specimens. The laser treated areas with all used travelling speeds results in melted and solidified zone on the surface of the steel. In the same time, Plates of acicular martensite structure were observed within the upper part of the melted and solidified zone in almost all experimental conditions, while some bainite structure in ferrite grains are detected in its lower part. By increasing the travelling speed, the depth of the laser treated zone was decreases, while travelling speed has much less significant effect on the laser treated zone width. The size of the formed martensite plates was increased by decreasing the travelling speed from 1500 to 500 mm min −1. On the other hand, the travelling speed has a straight effect on the length of the acicular martensite; as the travelling speed increases, the acicular martensite became longer, while it shows fine acicular martensite at lower travelling speeds. The depth that full martensite structure can be reached is increased by increasing travelling speed. At lower travelling speed (500 mm min −1), large amount of bainite structure is observed at the center of the treated zone up to its lower end. The fast travelling speed (1500 mm min −1) show higher hardness on the free surface than that of slow travelling speed (500 mm min −1). On the other hand, the travelling speed has a reverse effect on the depth of this hardness increment; the slower travelling speed give deeper areas of high hardness than that of fast speed. The Heat Affect Zone (HAZ) areas were increased by decreasing the travelling speed. In all conditions, the heat affected zone areas were composed of partially decomposed pearlite in ferrite grains. Finally, the microstructure of the base metal far from the laser treated areas show normal ferrite-sound pearlite microstructure.
2013
The surface hardness has an important effect on the wear resistance of different materials. The present study aims to improve the surface hardness of carbon steel through the application of laser surface melting with suitable conditions. The laser beam power and travelling speed are the main factors that affect the properties of the treated zone. In this study, three different conditions of laser beam power (1800, 1500 and 1200 W) at fixed travelling speed of 1000 mm min-1 were chosen to study the effect of laser beam power. The resulted laser treated specimens were investigated in macro and microscopically scale using optical and scanning electron microscope. Hardness measurements were also carried out through the thickness of the laser treated zones. The laser treated areas with all used powers results in melted and solidified zone on the surface of the steel. The laser power of 1800 W results in the deepest value of the laser treated zone (about 1.7 mm). Moreover, by increasing t...
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This study investigates the microhardness and microstructure of different steels hardened by a fibre laser. Rolled steel, quenched and tempered steel, annealed alloyed steel and conventionally through hardened steel were tested. Microhardness (HV0?01) was measured in martensite, pearlite, ferrite and cementite structures at different depths below the laser irradiated surface. The microhardness results were compared with the conventional macrohardness (HV5) results. The grain size of rolled ferritic-pearlitic steels had distinct effect on microhardness. The macrohardness of quenched and tempered steel might be markedly influenced by the homogeneity of alloy contents. In high carbon steel, cementite is y150 HV harder than pearlite. Annealed alloyed steels achieved high surface hardness but poor hardened depth. Dispersed granular pearlite did not affect the microhardness of soft annealed steel. The macrohardness of the base material was close to the microhardness of the softer phase structure. The measured microhardness was about 100-250 HV higher than the macrohardness.
Laser Surface Hardening of Tool Steels—Experimental and Numerical Analysis
Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology, 2013
This research work is focused on both experimental and numerical analysis of laser surface hardening of AISI M2 high speed tool steel. Experimental analysis aims at clarifying effect of different laser processing parameters on properties and performance of laser surface treated specimens. Numerical analysis is concerned with analytical approaches that provide efficient tools for estimation of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of laser surface hardening parameters. Results indicated that optimization of laser processing parameters including laser power, laser spot size and processing speed combination is of considerable importance for achieving maximum surface hardness and deepest hardened zone. In this concern, higher laser power, larger spot size and lower processing speed are more efficient. Hardened zone with 1.25 mm depth and 996 HV surface hardness was obtained using 1800 W laser power, 4 mm laser spot size and 0.5 m/min laser processing speed. The obtained maximum hardness of laser surface treated specimen is 23% higher than that of conventionally heat treated specimen. This in turn has resulted in 30% increase in wear resistance of laser surface treated specimen. Numerical analysis has been carried out for calculation of temperature gradient and cooling rate based on Ashby and Easterling equations. Then, surface hardness and hardened depth have been numerically estimated based on available Design-Expert software. Numerical results indicated that cooling rate of laser surface treated specimen is high enough to be beyond the nose of the CCT diagram of the used steel that in turn resulted in a hard/martensitic structure. Numerically estimated values of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of laser processing parameters are in a good agreement with experimental results. Laser processing charts indicating expected values of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of different wider range of laser processing parameters are proposed.
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The paper contains the investigation results on the structure and phase composition of the laser radiation area (LRA) of the U8 and U10 steels over its entire thickness. In the present study, the laser surface hardening of both U8 (ASTM-W1-7) and U10 (ASTM-W1-9) steels in the air was performed by exploiting a quasi-CW fiber laser with a 130 W power and 3 mm/s processing speed. The phase composition of the oxide layer formed as a result of laser treatment (LT) in air, as well as the structure of the oxide-metal interface on the surface of U8 (ASTM-W1-7) and U10 (ASTM-W1-9) carbon tool steels were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was established that the thickness of the completely oxidized surface layers for U8 and U10 steels is 38.7 nm and 99 nm, respectively. The composition of the oxides of the steel surface after LT was determined. The presence of a wüstite-based film on U8 steel evidences the low wear properties of the LRA surface, while the thicker oxide layer of the modified U10 steel which contains Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 oxides with better strength properties, on the contrary, provides U10 steel surface with higher wear resistance. It was found that the wear rate of U10 steel modified surface decreases by more than two times, while the given value for U8 steel reduces no more than 17%. The paper reports the metallographic examination of the LRA structure. It was shown that the wear-resistant structural components that appeared after laser treatment lead to an increase in the deformation properties of steels. The maximum microhardness value of the LRA is 710 HV 0.1 for U8 steel and 750 HV 0.1 for U10 steel.
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9TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING [RDME 2021], 2022
Laser surface hardening is an efficient method used to enhance the tribological properties and increase the product life of mechanical components used in various engineering industries. This project report comprises the laser hardening simulation of materials EN8 and EN24 Steel using ANSYS 2020 R2 ACADEMIC simulation software. This study aims to determine the optimum scanning speeds required for martensitic transformation to occur in the materials EN8 and EN24 at varying power levels. As the power intensity of the laser increases the surface temperature, the surface of the material reaches its austenitic state and is cooled rapidly causing the material to harden. The martensite formation is observed by studying the temperature profile corresponding to the surface temperatures of the material at each iteration of the simulation. Each iteration was simulated by varying the laser power and laser scanning speed and by keeping the laser beam diameter constant. The results were further analyzed and the iteration corresponding to the desired output were selected.
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