Laser grooving of surface cracks on hot work tool steel

Abstract

The paper presents the analysis of laser grooving of 1.2343 tool steel hardened to 46 HRC. The effect of laser power and grooving speed on groove shape (i.e. depth and width), the material removal rate and the purity of produced groove as a measure of groove quality was investigated and analyzed using response surface methodology. Optimal parameters of laser grooving were found, which enables pure grooves suitable for laser welding.

Keywords

• laser beam machining
• laser grooving
• 1.2343 tool steel
• thermal cracks