Hardening of Steel Perforated Tape by Nd:YAG Laser

Abstract

One of the directions of application of the perforated metal material is their use as cutting elements in the production of processing tools. In this case it is necessary to carry out hardening of cutting surfaces to increase their hardness. One of the methods of hardening metals could be laser treatment. Therefore, the present work is a study of the effect of Nd:YAG laser radiation on the microstructure and hardness of fragments formed from steel perforated tape. Different laser scan speeds (doses) were used in the experiments. The results have shown that the increase the microhardness of 30-40% after the laser treatment of steel perforated tape in the surface layer in a depth range up to 1 μm take place. The studies of microstructure of fragments formed from steel perforated tape have shown the reduction of the structure size and the presence of a thin oxide compounds, which is consistent with the results on nanoindentation. Hardening of the metal by laser radiation is carried out without surface melting which eliminates the change of macroroughness and the need for subsequent machining process.