Abstract
The laser material processing has replaced a conventional material processing such as a welding, cutting, drilling and surface modification and so on. LTH(Laser Transformation Hardening) is one branch of the laser surface modification process. A lot of energy is needed for the LTH process to elevate workpiece surface to temperature of the austenite transformation($A_3$), which results from utilizing a beam with a larger size and lower power intensity comparatively. The absorptivity of the laser energy with respect to material depends on the wave length of a beam. This study is related to the surface hardening for the rod-shaped carbon steel by the high power diode laser(HPDL) whose beam absorptivity is better than conventional types of lasers such as $CO_2$ or Nd:YAG laser. Because a beam proceeds on the rotating specimen the pretreated hardened-phase can be tempered and softened by the overlapping between hardened tracks. Accordingly, the longitudinal hardness measurement and observation of the micro structure was carried out for an assessment of the hardening characteristics. In addition, a hardening characteristics as a hardenability of materials was compared in the point of view of the hardness distribution and hardening depth and width.
