Laser Surface Modification of Metallic Alloys

Laser surface modification encompasses a suite of techniques designed to engineer the topmost layers of metallic alloys, tailoring surface microstructure, chemistry and residual stress profiles to enhance performance. By delivering controlled laser energy—either as continuous waves or pulses—researchers induce rapid melting, remelting or peening of the surface, leading to refined grain structures, altered phase distributions and compressive stress states. Such changes confer improved hardness, wear resistance, corrosion performance and fatigue life without affecting the bulk properties of the component. Techniques span laser surface melting, laser shock peening and laser texturing, often integrated with additive or subtractive processes to achieve multifunctional surfaces. Applications extend across aerospace, automotive, biomedical implants and energy sectors, where durability under mechanical, chemical and thermal loading is paramount. Recent advances focus on hybridising laser treatments with machining or deposition to control interface integrity, on tuning surface topography to influence wettability and on understanding the interplay between process parameters and long-term service behaviour.

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Laser Surface Modification of Metallic Alloys publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in laser surface modification of metallic alloys across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Laser surface melting: Rapid localised melting and resolidification of a metal surface by laser irradiation, refining microstructure and eliminating defects.

Laser shock peening: Generation of shock waves via high-intensity laser pulses, inducing compressive residual stresses to improve fatigue life and crack-growth resistance.

Laser surface texturing: Creation of micro- or nano-scale patterns on a surface using precise laser ablation or melting to modify wettability, friction or optical properties.

Direct metal deposition: Additive process in which metal powder or wire is melted by a laser to build or repair parts layer by layer, often hybridised with machining.

Wettability: Degree to which a liquid spreads on a solid surface, determined by surface chemistry and topography, influencing corrosion and lubrication behaviour.

Microhardness: Hardness measurement over small indentations, used to assess local mechanical strengthening induced by laser treatments.

References

1. Effect of the Cooling Liquid on the Milled Interface in the Combined Process of Milling and Direct Metal Deposition. Materials (2024).
2. Investigation of the change in wettability properties and corrosion behavior of AISI 304 after laser surface texturing. Journal of Physics Conference Series (2023).
3. Comparison wear behavior of different Al-alloys under the effect of laser surface treatment. Thi-Qar University Journal for Engineering Sciences (2022).