Modeling of the kinetics of laser hardening of a titanium alloy

One of the key mechanisms resulting in the hardening of titanium alloy products subjected to compression by a shock wave resulting from the action of a short and powerful laser pulse is considered. It was shown that the induced jump in the dislocation density at the grain boundary temporarily shifts the equilibrium towards grains of smaller radius. The grain kinetics model is studied in the dimensional space using the famous Lifshitz–Slezov method plus a small generalization of it. The dynamics of the average grain size was calculated and an asymptotic grain size distribution function was obtained as a result. The dynamic equations take into account the entropy of dislocations. The results of processing of experimental data on residual stresses on the sample surface after its processing by a single pulse are also presented. Based on the residual stresses it is possible to estimate the maximum temperature that was reached during plastic deformations.