Effect of femtosecond laser pretreatment on wear resistance of Al2O3/TiC ceramic tools in dry cutting

A femtosecond pulsed laser (pulse width: 120 fs, wavelength: 800 nm and repetition rate: 500 Hz) was used for the pretreatment on the rake face of Al2O3/TiC ceramic cutting tools. The evolution of surface morphology of pretreated cutting tools irradiated with different pulse energies was measured by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Dry cutting tests were carried out with these pretreated tools and conventional tools on hardened steel. The effect of pulse energy on the wear resistance of these pretreated tools was investigated. Results show that the cutting forces have no significant difference between laser pretreated tools and the conventional tool; the cutting temperatures of laser pretreated tools were slightly reduced compared with the conventional tool. Meanwhile, we found that the laser pretreated tools increased the adhesions of chips on the rake face, but they can significantly improve the wear resistance of the rake face; and laser pulse energy was found to have a profound effect on the wear resistance of the laser pretreated tools.