Laser Heat Treating Services

Laser heat treating makes use of the laser energy to rapidly and efficiently heat a selected area of the surface of a metal component above the . The thermal mass of the component is all that is required to achieve quenching. In other words, a rapid quench necessary for hardening is achieved by removal of the laser energy via conduction. This occurs after turning off the laser or movement of the laser beam over the component’s surface. Rapid heat removal is achieved by the thermal mass of the component acting as a heat-sink. This heat removal rate is typically much higher than those associated with traditional methods and therefore can achieve a higher case hardness.

The major advantage of diode laser surface hardening is the high processing speed with precise  resulting in negligible distortion. Laser surface transformation hardening not only increases the wear resistance; but, under certain conditions, the fatigue strength is also increased due to the compressive stresses induced on the work piece surface. This is especially true of powder metal parts and high torque parts such as cams, cranks, and couplings.

All heat treatable materials can be laser case hardened without liquid based quenchants. The low distortion is what makes the process a clear winner over traditional heat treating methods such as flame, RF-induction, furnace, carbonizing, and nitriding processes. Flame hardening has poor reproducibility, poor quench, and large distortions. Induction hardening requires precise controls over inductor placement, quenchant chemistries and flow, but still produces large distortions due to large thermal penetration. Furnace, carbonizing and nitriding processes are all inherently non-localized and therefore are distortion risks.

The diode laser is an ideal source for laser transformation hardening, with the most absorbing wavelength of any laser, the diode requires no  of a machined work piece surface to achieve light absorption. The diode laser is inherently , which allows for , thus we can provide a level of quality not achievable with any other heat-treating process.

Titanova diode laser heat treating service is a much more cost effective heat treating technique when compared to traditional heat treating processes when one considers first time quality, turn around time, pre and post part processing requirements. The diode laser heat-treating process is inherently a LEAN [single piece flow] process. Since diode laser heat treating is a localized heat treat, only where the laser beam points, distortion can be significantly reduced or eliminated.

No Job is too Big or too Small

With over 40 years of combined experience in the area of diode laser technology, Titanova can design and build a diode laser heat treating cell that uniquely fits your component requirements. We can heat treat everything from a large bearing surface to the tip of a needle.

Benefits of Titanova Laser Heat Treat Process

• Selective hardening both is depth and location
• Low or negligible distortion
• No post processing is required
• Precision heating and control
• Highly directional heating via line of site heat treating
• Process speeds typically 3 times the rate of induction
• Environmentally friendly dry process requiring no quench oil or fluids
• Process does not require absorbent coatings
• Process very forgiving with respect to surface contaminants
• Work piece shape geometry not an issue
• Higher hardness achievable -- over HRC 60 without cracking
• Fatigue life improvement for powder metal parts and drive train components
• Quality processing achievable with in situ temperature control

Industry Application

• All carbon alloy steels and cast irons
• Bearing surfaces
• Cutting surfaces
• Pumps
• Valve seat and seal surfaces
• Drive train components
• Gears, pulleys, and cams
• Hand tools, needles, and pins
• Forming tools
• Stamping dies
• Turbine blades
• Powder metal parts

If your current heat treating process or service is leaving you distorted give our application engineer a call today for a part evaluation!