Influence of laser spot scanning speed on micro-polishing of metallic surface using UV nanosecond pulse laser

Abstract

During laser micro-polishing of the metallic surface, it is very important to choose the optimal laser energy density. The optimal laser energy density is merely related to the laser spot scanning speed while the spot size and the irradiated laser energy are rated. In this paper, during micro-polishing on the metallic surface by using UV nanosecond pulse laser, the influence of laser spot scanning speed on the polishing effect was investigated in terms of the relationship with the laser energy density. The experimental and analytical considerations were shown that there is the optimal scanning speed of laser spot for the best laser micro-polishing effect when the laser energy density on the workpiece surface was rated. In addition, the optimal process parameters for the laser micro-polishing of Ti and Ni metallic surfaces were obtained and the laser micro-polishing experiments on those metallic surfaces were conducted. For Ti and Ni metallic surfaces, the surface roughness improvements of up to 56% and 52% were, respectively, obtained.