Laser beam transformation hardening: tranferability of machnining parameters report on a co-operative work in STC 'E'

Laser beam transformation hardening of steel is a well known technique. The results of the hardening process, i.e. the hardness, the depth and width of the hardened track can be controlled by a few machining parameters. Nevertheless, significant differences have been observed, while transferring machining data from one laser system to another in a joint experiment with three participants. Laser transformation hardening showed to be very sensitive to the absorbed power density and the beam profile. Calculated hardening diagrams have been developed for various beam power density distributions. These diagrams have been verified experimentally. They proved to be helpful in understanding the process and in transferring laser hardening results to other laser systems.