METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LASER HARDENING OF A SURFACE OF A WORKPLACE

摘要

A method of laser hardening a surface area of a workpiece, such as a surface of a journal of a crankshaft, includes the step of:
generating a relative movement between the surface of the workpiece and a laser source to allow a laser spot to subsequently be projected onto different portions of said surface area. The method also includes the step ofrepetitively scanning the laser beam so as to produce a two-dimensional equivalent effective laser spot on said surface area, during the relative movement.;The scanning pattern can include at least three substantially parallel lines which the laser spot follows in a certain order.;When the workpiece includes several journals having different widths, two laser sources may be used to harden the surface area of the wider journals.

主权项

1. A method of laser hardening of a surface of a workpiece, the workpiece comprising at least one surface area to be hardened, the method including the steps of:
projecting a laser beam from a laser source onto said surface area, so as to produce a laser spot on said surface area; generating a relative movement between the surface of the workpiece and the laser source, thereby allowing the laser spot to be subsequently projected onto different portions of said surface area; and during the relative movement, repetitively scanning the laser beam across the respective portion of said surface area in two dimensions, following a scanning pattern so as to produce a two-dimensional effective laser spot on said surface area, said effective laser spot having an energy distribution, wherein due to the relative movement, said effective laser spot travels along said surface area; wherein said scanning pattern comprises at least three segments, and wherein said scanning of the laser beam is carried out so that said laser beam follows at least one of said segments more frequently than said laser beam follows at least another one of said segments.