Finite-Element Modeling in the Technology of Hardening Laser Processing of a Metal-Cutting Tool.

A problem on heating of a cutting tool by triangularly shaped pulsed laser radiation has been solved numerically in a three-dimensional formulation by the finite-element method. The developed model takes account of the influence of both the geometry of the tool and the spatial and temporal characteristics of laser radiation on the formation of a temperature field in the laser-processing zone. A study has been made of the temperature distribution on the front face of the tool and over the depth of the laser-impingement point for different positions of the center of a laser-processing spot relative to the major cutting edge. For different tool angles, the regularities of formation of a temperature field during the hardening by pulsed laser radiation have been established; processing regimes (energy density, the multiplicity of processing, and the position of the center of the laser-processing spot relative to the tool's cutting edges) that ensure the best parameters of the laser-impingement point (maximum hardening depth and the hardening-zone length) have been determined. A procedure to select technological parameters for the process of hardening of the cutting tool has been developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]