Experimental research of laser texturing of cemented carbide

To explore the potential application of micro-textures on the surface of cemented carbide material by laser texturing, process tests of laser texturing were carried out on the surface of YG6X cemented carbide cutters by using single factor analysis method. Crater micro-textures with approximate 270m diameter and 6m height were obtained. The experimental results show that laser pulse width, pump voltage and air pressure have important effects on the textured topography dimensions and quality of the convex textures. Pulse width and pumping voltage can increases the dimension of convex textures greatly, gas pressure can significantly reduce the height of convex textures about 43%. However, micro-cracks exist from the center to the surrounding of micro-texture materials on cemented carbide by laser texturing. Furthermore, micro-texture materials by laser texturing on cemented carbide show uneven distribution with bigger hole and cavity in the center, but have close bonding strength with substrate.