LAUSR

ABSTRACT The aim of this work was the production and the characterization of a laser textured 316L stainless steel reinforced with CuCoBe-diamond composites by laser sintering. The composites were obtained from CuCoBe and synthetic diamond with different particle sizes by mechanical alloying. The influence of the reinforcement on the physical, chemical and surface properties was analyzed. The results showed that the textured pattern consisted of square pyramids with a machined area of approximately 80%. The interfaces between the steel and the reinforcement after sintering are well defined and sharp. A good adherence of the diamond particles to the CuCoBe matrix was achieved. The laser sintering process did not induce any phase transformations or oxidation of the reinforcement. The steel reinforced with the biggest diamond particles exhibited substantially better surface performance than the untextured material.