Laser surface cleaning of EN1055 steel

Abstract

Laser surface cleaning is a new technology that is not widely used by the industry as compared with other methods such as abrasive cleaning, chemical cleaning, and thermal cleaning. Currently, there are only limited studies done on EN1055 steel. The project aims to analyze EN1055 steel by using a different scan speed and numbers of scan time. A Femtosecond (FS) laser will be used to clean the specimen. As the scan speed and numbers of scan time vary, it will generate different surface profiles, roughness, and characteristic before and after laser ablation. Both Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Talyscan 150 will be used to investigate and analyze the collected data. After going through the experiment, various scan speeds and numbers of scan time will affect the surface roughness and surface characteristic. Cracks and craters can be found on the surface due to low scanning speed. Surface roughness was observed with an increasing trend when the scan speed reduced. In results, 10mm/s was selected to be the ideal scan speed based on the observation and analysis done on the sample. Other than that, crests and valleys were also founded on the surface when the scan time increased. It will form the craters in the laser irradiation region which will lead to surface roughness increase. In results, 1 to 5 scan time was selected to be the ideal scan time based on the observation and analysis done on the sample.