Due to the innovation in the field of high power diode lasers applications during the last years, heat treatment by using diode lasers has become very successful. However, at time this technology is most commonly used for simple two-dimensional geometries.
An important industrial sector is the heat treatment of tools for sheet metal forming. At present conventional hardening processes are applied. But mostly it is not necessary to treat the complete surface of the tools but rather small local tracks like cutting edges. This results in smaller distortions and less rework time. Because of these advantages, industry and the automotive industry in particular ask for an integrated laser hardening system for complex three dimensional tools.
In cooperation with various industrial partners such a system will be developed. The complete system has to blend into the industrial process chain and machinery in operation and consist of a framework of different software and hardware modules. The state of the development is demonstrated and the potentials of this system will be shown.