Laser surface hardening of martensitic stainless steel hollow parts

This paper deals with numerical simulation and experimental validation of laser heat treatment of an industrial axisymmetric hollow mechanical part by means of a strategy based on helical tracks. This component, made of AISI 420B martensitic stainless steel, features a low wall thickness and, according to this, it is not easily treatable by means of laser surface hardening. The work carried out was aimed at demonstrating that numerical simulation allows a drastic reduction of the experimental activity and that it makes possible to prove a very high sensitivity of the results to process parameters variation.