Laser irradiation of Alloys

In this work the experimental work was conducted to study the effect of laser irradiation on the improvement of the mechanical properties of the alloys used in building elements. Excimer laser at 308nm and 193nm have been used, the commercial Nd-YAG at 1064nm is also tested. The effect of number of pulses in the range of 1000--- to---50,000 pulses and the effect of change of laser power in the range of 1.2--- to--- 6mJ on the mechanical properties of the selected alloys were investigated. The effect of laser on austenitic stainless steel 304 has been investigated. The number of pulses selections depends on the amount of energy required to produce a considerable phase changes at different regions in the phase diagram, the amount of scattered and reflected energy have been taken into considerations, The investigates alloys selections depend mainly on the economical value of the alloy and the initial microstructure of the alloys. The optimum laser irradiation conditions in this study range have been determined to be 308nm, 200Hz, 5000 pulse, and 6mJ. The alloys used in building applications achieved the highest improvement in surface superficial hardness with laser irradiation.