Engineering Applications and Analysis of Hardining Data for Laser Heat Treated Ferrous Alloys

Abstract

Published information on the wide range of industrial applications in which laser surface transformation hardening has been used on ferrous alloys is reviewed. The effect of operational parameters on the heat treatment response (case depth, coverage rate, distortion, and hardness) is surveyed and illustrated from the results of a study of laser heat treatment of ASTM class 40 grey and class 80–55–06 ductile cast irons. Attempts are made to establish the relationship between the case depths obtained and the applied laser and material variables, on the basis of experimental data and heat flow models, and the available published data in this field are tabulated.