| Laser surface modification involves rapid melting and solidification is an elegant technique used for locally tailoring the surface morphology of alumina in order to enhance its abrasive characteristics. COMSOL Multiphysics RTM based heat transfer modeling and experimental approaches were designed and used in this study for single and multiple laser tracks to achieve densely-packed multi-facet grains via temperature history, cooling rate, solidification, scanning electron micrographs, and wear rate. Multifacet grains were produced at the center of laser track with primary dendrites extending toward the edge of single laser track. The multiple laser tracks study indicates the grain/dendrite size increases as the laser energy density increases resulting in multiplying the abrasive edges which in turn enhance the abrasive qualities. |
