ControlledLaserTransf省略elbyPulsedNdYA.docVIP

 Controlled Laser Transformation Hardening of Martensitic Stainless Steel by Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser B. Mahmoudi, A. R. Sabour Aghdam, and M. J. Torkamany effective protective layer because of brittleness and crack sensitivity. Therefore, an optimal phase is needed to have more hardness compared with initial ferrite and more toughness compared with fully martensite phase. AISI 420 MSS has medium chromium content (13%) and relatively low carbon content (~0.2%). The hardness of this metal is varying between 205 VHN to 550 VHN (depending on carbon content)[4]. The aims of the present study are to employ a pulsed Nd: YAG laser for LTH of AISI 420 to control the carbide particle solution into the matrix and obtain a tempered martensite phase with optimum hardness and toughness and compare the results with annealed and conventionally hardened one. The effect of laser process parameters on the hardness and depth of hardened areas were investigated too. Abstract?Laser transformation hardening (LTH) was applied to the surface of the AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser to obtain optimum hardness. The influences of process para- meters (laser pulse energy, duration time, and travel speed) on the depth and hardness of laser treated area were investigated. Image analysis of SEM micros- tructure of AISI 420 showed that plate-like carbide have almost fully and (30~40)% of globular carbide particles dissolved into the matrix after laser transformation hardening by pulsed laser and the microstructure was refined to obtain controlled tempered microstructure with 450 VHN hardness. martensite Index Terms?Laser transformation hardening, martensitic stainless steel, martensite microstructure, pulsed Nd:YAG laser. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-862X.2010.01.019 2. Experimental Details 2.1 Material and Laser A sheet of AISI 420 MSS with 3 mm thickness was cut to 2 cm × 2 cm samples. The chemical composition of samples is shown in Table 1. Prepari