Laser beam transformation hardening is rapidly growing in popularity as a method to achieve high quality surface hardened zones. At the same time, the complexity of the parts and the requirements are increasing. Currently a direct calculation of the hardening parameters is only possible on very basic geometries, therefore an experimental approach is almost always used instead. But cost and time considerations, as well as rising demands on quality and process stability, make it unavoidable to explore new ways to determine the process parameters.
This paper presents a new approach to find the parameters semi-automatically. The approach, a self-optimizing finite differences method (FDM) simulation, was pinpointed as the most promising method in a former investigation. To prove its applicability, a new software package was developed to calculate the feed rates for laser hardening on two-dimensional shaped parts. Several differently-shaped work pieces with complex geometries (complexity as seen from a hardening-process point of view) were used for testing. The results from the simulation were applied on real parts to evaluate the quality of the parameter prediction. The tests showed not only a good agreement of the simulation with reality, but also that the automatic parameter calculation was able to find suitable process parameters as required.