Study on laser hardening for steel sheet with low power diode laser

Abstract

Sustainable manufacturing process is required recently. We draw attention to laser hardening with a small low-powered diode laser which has potential for low environmental load. We tried to obtain enough heat irradiation and quenching speed at the same time, and performed laser hardening for carbon steel sheet with a different thickness. As a result, it was found that whole-thickness laser hardening could be yielded for 0.5 mm sheet thickness with a 40W laser.