Mechanical Properties and Deformation Of Ceramic Coated Steels Heat-treated By Scanning Laser

A new surface modification method “laser quenching after coating” using a high power diode laser equipped with a 2-dimensional galvano-scanner unit was developed to process a larger area of ceramic coated steel uniformly and efficiently. The laser irradiation tests for 3 kinds of ceramic-coated steels: CrAlN, TiAlN and CrN, were carried out with the scanning laser, and the appropriate irradiation conditions to achieve the uniformly quenched substrate without any surface damage were clarified for these ceramic-coated steels. The area of the substrate surface wider than the laser spot size could be easily quenched by the scanning laser. The adhesive strength, the film hardness of the laser-irradiated regions and the deformation caused by laser irradiation were evaluated. Laser quenching with the scanning laser can effectively improve the adhesive strength and substrate hardness without any detrimental effect on the film hardness of the ceramic-coated specimens. In the deformation of the