Apparatus for laser alloying induced improvement of surfaces

An apparatus for controlling the depth and chemistry of laser alloying of a metal workpiece that is movable relative to a laser beam, comprising:

• a. a laser beam delivery system capable of delivering a laser beam pulse at a desired focus, and power density in response to a beam control signal;
• b. a movement system capable of causing relative movement between a laser beam emitted from said beam delivery system and a workpiece being irradiated by said beam, said movement occurring at a desired rate, and over desired distance increments, in response to a movement control signal;
• c. a precursor application system capable of applying a precursor at a desired rate to the surface of a moving workpiece;
• d. a feedback control system capable of receiving input signals indicative of one or more measured process parameters, processing said signals, transmitting a beam control signal to said beam delivery system, and transmitting a movement control signal to said movement system, so as to control the depth and chemistry of laser alloying of a workpiece being moved by the movement system relative to a laser beam being delivered by the beam delivery system;
• and
• e. an emission spectra measuring device positioned to measure emission spectra emanating from the surface of a workpiece irradiated by said beam delivery system, said measuring device being capable of transmitting emission spectra data to said control system.

An apparatus for controlling the depth and chemistry of laser alloying of a metal workpiece that is movable relative to a laser beam, comprising:

• a. a laser beam delivery system capable of delivering a laser beam pulse at a desired focus, and power density in response to a beam control signal;
• b. a movement system capable of causing relative movement between a laser beam emitted from said beam delivery system and a workpiece being irradiated by said beam, said movement occurring at a desired rate, and over desired distance increments, in response to a movement control signal;
• c. a precursor application system capable of applying a precursor at a desired rate to the surface of a moving workpiece;
• d. a feedback control system capable of receiving input signals indicative of one or more measured process parameters, processing said signals, transmitting a beam control signal to said beam delivery system so as to control the depth and chemistry of laser alloying of a workpiece being moved by the movement system relative to a laser beam being delivered by the beam delivery system;
• e. an emission spectra measuring device positioned to measure emission spectra emanating from the surface of a workpiece irradiated by said beam delivery system, said measuring device being capable of transmitting emission spectra data to said control system;
• and
• f. a video imaging device positioned to provide a video image of the region of the workpiece being irradiated by a laser beam from said beam delivery system and further capable of transmitting a control signal indicative of said video image to said control system.