Surface treatment of components exhibiting thin sections must be performed with care in order to enhance surface wear resistance without inducing bulk brittleness by affecting the core of the specimen.
Laser heat treatment by means of beam integrators allows a good control of treatment depth, but needs additional optics in order to deliver a uniform energy distribution on details with short radii of curvature. Otherwise the treatment would be too superficial or, in the case of over-irradiation, would reach the interior of the metal causing brittleness. These additional optics are bound not only to follow the shape of the workpieces but also to collect the laser beam in the limited length where the beam integrating optics deliver it in a regular pattern.
Experimental tests, performed on specimens currently in use industrially, by means of a different optic arrangement, supported by computer simulation, are shown. The aim of increasing the flexibility of such optical devices, preserving their simplified features, is also discussed. Flexibility is essential in order to transfer the aforementioned technique from an experimental setup to manufacturing systems. Personal computers are indicated as being suitable for this purpose.