Robotic Laser Hardening of Die Steel Products

The possibility of surface hardening of die tools using a robotic complex based on a universal industrial robot and powerful fiber laser is considered. Hardening is reached due to short-term heating of the material surface layer without melting, which results in the formation of a nonetching white layer with an ultrafine structure at the surface. It is established that the hardness of the surface layer processed with a fiber laser is 62–64 HRC and the depth of the hardened layer reaches 1 mm. The application of industrial robots having six degrees of freedom allows one to direct the laser beam along the normal to the processed surface, providing the required mode of heating of the surface of complex shape stamps.