Volume 43, Issue 1

Laser Interference Metallurgy is a newly developed method which permits the creation of periodic patterns with a well defined long-range order on metallic surfaces. By means of interfering laser beams with sufficient high pulse power a direct structuring on the scale of microns with well known metallurgical effects such as melting, recrystallization, quenching, recovery, defect or phase formation can be obtained. In this work Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy is used to study the constitutive elements of the films at different irradiated zones. The obtained scans are compared with cross-sectional analyses by Focused Ion Beam giving important information for the interpretation of the layer structure.

Metallographic observations and thermodynamic calculations were used to characterise the solidification and the microstructure formation during casting in three modifications of CF3M steel. By combining the results it was possible to outline the basic microstructure changes which are the same for all three modifications. It was shown that light microscopy is more useful for material characterisation when it is combined with credible thermodynamic predictions, and vice versa.