Roughness prediction on laser polished surfaces

► A method for the estimation of the topography of a laser polished process is presented. ► The model starts with the initial surface and the resultant topography is estimated. ► The model is based on the simulation of the thermal field generated by a laser beam. ► A critical filter frequency is defined and the initial profile frequencies are filtered. ► A thermal model is developed considering the solid-phase transformations. ► The model has been validated for laser polishing of DIN 1.2379 tool steel. ► The proposed method obtains coherent topographies agree with experimental data.