Calculation of Transient Stress Field During Laser Transformation Hardening Process

A thermal elastic-plastic Two-D finite element model to calculate the transient stress field during laser transformation hardening process was developed in this paper. The mechanical properties of material, Young's module E, Poisson's ratio v, yield limit s2 and thermal expansion coefficient a are all considered to change with temperature. The equivalent expansion method was used to deal with the problem with phase transformation. A program to calculate the transient stress field was developed using FORTRAN language. The transient and residual stress fields during CO2 laser transformation hardening process of MoCu nodular iron were calculated. The residual stress fields were measured using X-ray diffraction method. The calculated residual stress field of laser transformation hardened MoCu nodular iron is in good agreement with the experimental result.