RESEARCH INTO THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE FIELDS OF HEATING DURING CONTINUOUS LASER TREATMENT ON T15K6 CARBIDE INSERT PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The paper studies the effect of temperature fields of heating during continuous laser treatment on T15K6 carbide insert performance. A tool with T15K6 indexable carbide inserts was exposed to laser treatment by heating the working surface with continuous laser radiation using the LK 3015ls07 PM industrial laser according to the KV_OSN program along insert contours with the cutting edge distance ~2 mm. Laser exposure time was 2–3 s in nitrogen as a shielding gas. The study used samples in the form of 12,70×12,70×4,76 mm quadrangular plates (GOST 19052-80) with variable radiation power in the range of q = 300±100 W/cm2, and laser radiation moving speed within VL = 20±10 mm/s. Hardness measured in the laser-hardened zone after laser exposure was Hμ = 15500÷21500 N/mm2. The laser impingement point was tested for cutting and abrasive wear with microstructure analysis. Cutting wear along the front and back surfaces of carbide inserts after laser treatment was up to 5 times reduced. It is shown that further laser power density increase to q = 400 W/cm2 provides no positive trend. Diamond abrasive wear with an increased q value indicates wear reduction to 40 wt.%. Microstructural analysis showed a decrease in the tungsten carbide grain size from 5,6 to 4,3 μm in the continuous laser treatment area.