Surface Structuring by Laser Remelting (WaveShape): Microstructuring of Ti6Al4V for a Small Laser Beam Diameter and High Scan Speeds

The appearance of a surface is a crucial characteristic of a part or component. Laser-based micromachining gets increasingly important in generating tailored surface topographies. A novel structuring technique for surface engineering is surface structuring by laser remelting (WaveShape), in which surface features are created without material loss. In this study, we investigated the evolution of surface topographies on Ti6Al4V for a laser beam diameter of 50 µm and scan speeds larger than 100 mm/s. Surface features with aspect ratios (ratio of height to width) of almost 1:1 were achieved using the WaveShape process. Furthermore, wavelengths smaller than 500 µm could be effectively structured using scan speeds of up to 500 mm/s. The experimental results showed further that the efficiency of the WaveShape process in terms of achieved structure height per unit time significantly increases for high scan speeds.