Laser surface smoothing of nickel-based superalloys

The effect of continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser remelting on the surface topography of two different nickel based superalloys is studied in this work. 

A bidirectional strategy with small overlapping between adjacent tracks, together with powers around 150W and speeds over 4m/min is found to perform best. The most relevant 1D statistical parameters are obtained via contact profilometry and complemented by confocal microscopy measurements. The results show a notable improvement of about 80% on the Ra parameter, which is reduced from 4-5 μm to values around 1 μm. The potential of the technique is demonstrated on 3D parts.