Laser surface hardening of SS316L

Abstract

Abstract Laser surface hardening is one of the effective method to enhance the mechanical properties of localised surface area of engineering parts made of different types of steels and other metals like titanium etc. Laser surface hardening has many advantages over conventional hardening process like, self-quenching, very fast, control over energy input and localised hardening etc. This work presents the effect of different laser parameters on the micro hardness of SS316L after laser hardening. The experimental work was carried out using 30W Diode-pumped nanosecond (ns) pulsed laser. Design of Experiments One Variable at a Time (OVAT) approach was used for experimentation. Laser power, laser scanning speed, frequency and number of passes were the process parameters used for the experiments. Effects of these parameters over the micro hardness of the surface are described. Along with this, discussion of features of microstructures using optical microscope are done. It has been found that, there is around 25% increase in hardness after laser hardening. Hardened depth up to 400 microns was obtained.