Methodology of laser processing for precise control of surface micro-topology
Ahmed Obeidi, MuhannadORCID: 0000-0003-2733-3828, McCarthy, Éanna and Brabazon, DermotORCID: 0000-0003-3214-6381
(2016)
Methodology of laser processing for precise control of surface micro-topology.
Surface and Coatings Technology, 307
(A).
pp. 702-712.
ISSN 0257-8972
Laser surface texturing of materials potentially offers precise control of surface structure and
mechanical properties. This has a wide range of applications such as control of frictional forces,
control of bond strength in interference fit joints, and production of antifouling surfaces. To
achieve such texturing in a well-defined, useful manner, precise control of the applied laser
processing parameters over a sizeable surface area is required. This paper presents the
development of a method for creating highly repeatable and predetermined moiré textured
patterns on metallic samples via laser processing. While the method developed is broadly
applicable to various materials and laser systems, in the example detailed here the surfaces of
cylindrical stainless steel samples were processed with a pulsed CO2 laser. The resulting
modified surfaces contained texture geometries with pre-definable peak-to-peak widths, valleyto-peak
heights, and texture directions. The method of achieving this theoretically and experimentally is
detailed in this paper. The relationship between the laser processing parameters
and resulting diameter increase was confirmed via Design of Experiment response surface
methodology. Precise control of the laser textured cylindrical surface outer diameter and texture
pattern are key factors in determining the potential suitability of this process for application to
the production of interference fit fasteners. The effects of the laser processing parameters and
topologies of the resulting re-solidified metal profile on the surfaces were assessed in detail with
a focus on this application.
Metadata
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Surface texturing; CO2 laser; micro-profiling; micro-texturing; stainless steel; moiré pattern