International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture最新文献

{"title":"AI-powered semiconductor wafer fabrication: A manufacturing paradigm shift","authors":"Guanwei He ,&nbsp;Qingqing Huang ,&nbsp;Xinhao Li ,&nbsp;Libo Zhou ,&nbsp;Miao Yang ,&nbsp;Yadan Luo ,&nbsp;Marian Wiercigroch ,&nbsp;Han Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104345","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104345","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the landscape of modern manufacturing by enabling intelligent, adaptive, and increasingly autonomous production systems. In high-end manufacturing processes, persistent challenges such as complex machine-tool dynamics, variability in equipment performance, and environmental instabilities hinder consistent quality and high efficiency. These challenges are further amplified in advanced manufacturing domains, particularly in semiconductor wafer fabrication, which demands ultra-high precision to be attained. AI offers powerful solutions to these challenges through its capability in real-time decision making, data driving modelling, and predictive analysis of manufacturing processes. By learning from vast datasets generated during manufacturing, AI systems can identify working patterns, optimize process parameters, detect anomalies, and guide autonomous control strategies. These advantages position AI as a key enabler for enhancing process understanding, ensuring quality assurance, and accelerating innovation in fabrication technologies. Semiconductor wafer fabrication is the cornerstone of modern electronics manufacturing, serving as the foundation process for integrated circuits production. This article reviews the transformative role of AI in wafer fabrication, highlighting its principles, applications, and prospects. Key AI technologies such as deep learning, reinforcement learning, and generative algorithms that have been widely adopted in wafer fabrication are surveyed. Special attention is given to their deployment across critical fabrication procedures including crystal growth, ingot slicing and ultraprecision machining. The review further presents state-of-the-art research and industrial implementations of AI in these domains, showcasing how intelligent models can be employed in quality prediction, regime classification, process optimization, and system control. Finally, emerging trends and future perspectives aimed at fostering more practical, deeply integrated, and robust AI applications across the manufacturing ecosystem are discussed, paving the way toward fully autonomous and self-optimizing future manufacturing processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 104345"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Machine learning applications in welding processes: Progresses and opportunities","authors":"Peihao Geng ,&nbsp;Yujun Xia ,&nbsp;Zhiqiao Dong ,&nbsp;Boxuan Men ,&nbsp;Bo Pan ,&nbsp;Chenhui Shao ,&nbsp;Yongbing Li ,&nbsp;Jingjing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104344","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104344","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing demand for intelligent and autonomous manufacturing has driven the integration of machine learning (ML) into modern welding processes. Owing to its ability to model nonlinear and cross-scale interactions and extract critical features from complex, high-dimensional data, ML is rapidly transforming the design, monitoring, and evaluation of welding processes. Based on this, the paper systematically reviews research progress in ML for four representative welding processes (arc, laser, resistance and friction stir welding) over the past decade. First, typical welding tasks are categorized into three domains: pre-weld design, in-process monitoring, and post-weld quality assessment. It then elaborates on the types of welding data used and their input-output relationships across different tasks and analyzes the architecture and algorithmic characteristics of mainstream ML models. Cross-process comparison reveals that the physical nature of each welding process determines the focus of ML research, model selection, and performance metrics. The study quantitatively compares the task-specific metrics of various models and presents successful industrial application cases. Despite significant progress, challenges persist in constructing high-quality and standardized datasets, improving model interpretability and generalization, and achieving robust real-time control in dynamic industrial environments. Based on the summarized emerging challenges, the perspectives on further development direction of applying ML in intelligent welding are also discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 104344"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145434318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quasi-in-situ reconstruction and regulating mechanism of plastic flow in steel friction stir welding","authors":"Yuxuan Li ,&nbsp;Mingrun Yu ,&nbsp;Shikang Gao ,&nbsp;Guangda Sun ,&nbsp;Haitao An ,&nbsp;Li Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104341","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104341","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Resolving the mystery of plastic flow in steel friction stir welding (FSW) is critical for process. However, constrained by limitations in flow field techniques and insufficient understanding of the underlying physics, a holistic understanding of plastic flow and its regulating mechanism remains largely empirical. In this study, the material response to the mechanical processing of the FSW tool is reconstructed through a quasi-continuous observation technique. The mechanism of cavity filling, the effective range of tool-workpiece contact states, and the real-time boundary of the shear layer are analyzed. At finer scales, multiple independent vertical components are identified, inducing either unstable periodic flow or mass-balancing effects. These components are characterised as vortex structures. Accordingly, a dynamic model is proposed to specifically elucidate the formation of local vortex structures. The model uses tool–workpiece interaction as the basis for a qualitative description to assess the location of vortex activation, a process that can be semi-quantitatively represented through finite element simulations. The dynamic evolution of the vortex is attributed to the constraining effect of solid-state boundaries on the flow field. The real-time boundary of the shear layer is considered as one form of solid-state boundary, whose constraining effect promotes localised vortex formation. Specifically, the formation of captured vortexes is defined based on the assumption of tool-workpiece interaction and the delineation of shear layer boundaries. Model adaptability is preliminarily verified, and a low-cost method is proposed for capturing previously hidden plastic flows. Across a wide range of process parameters, this model effectively explains plastic flow behaviour. These analyses not only advance a comprehensive knowledge of flow dynamics and associated shear behaviour in steel FSW, but also demonstrate that the proposed dynamic model deepens the fundamental understanding of the complex physical mechanisms during the process. Therefore, this study lays a foundation for optimising welding parameters and supports future academic investigations focused on plastic flow or shear behaviour control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 104341"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145247950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Real-time capable feedrate optimization for laser processes with redundant axes via two-stage regularized linear programming","authors":"Haijia Xu ,&nbsp;Daniel Kurth ,&nbsp;Christoph Hinze ,&nbsp;Claudius Horsch ,&nbsp;David Hecht ,&nbsp;Alexander Verl","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104342","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104342","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Galvanometer scanners offer high dynamics and precision for laser processes, but are limited in their workspace. To expand the workspace, the galvanometer scanner can be integrated into a larger mechanical motion system with redundant axes, including slow mechanical axes and fast scanner axes. While this configuration provides additional degrees of freedom in feedrate planning, conventional Computerized Numerical Control (CNC)-based laser machining systems cannot exploit them effectively, resulting in suboptimal finishing times. This paper introduces the first real-time capable, optimization-based approach to the minimum-time planning problem under motion redundancy, considering limits in redundant axes and toolpath dynamics up to the third order. This is achieved by decoupling the nonlinear problem into two linear problems and introducing a sequential windowing and adaptive scaling strategy, which allows the toolpath to be scaled to arbitrary lengths. Additionally, a new numerical approximation of the transformation between axis and Cartesian coordinates is introduced. This allows for optimization without arc-length parameterization and simplifies the previous toolpath geometry processing. The constraint feasibility and computational efficiency of the proposed optimization method are validated using spline toolpaths. On a desktop PC with single-core execution, the computation time remains well below the actual processing time at around 10 %, showing linear scalability with respect to toolpath length. Experiments on two different laser machines equipped with redundant axes further validate the planning performance and computational robustness when following freeform contours with up to <span><math><mrow><mn>10</mn><mspace></mspace><mn>000</mn></mrow></math></span> constraint checkpoints. Compared to an industrial CNC-guided solution based on S-curve motion profiles, the proposed optimization algorithm reduces the finishing time by around 30 % in experiments with and without jerk constraints.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 104342"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145359368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights into the strengthening mechanisms of titanium alloy treated by electropulsing-assisted ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification: Process, microstructure, and deformation behavior","authors":"Yu Zhang ,&nbsp;Weidong Zhao ,&nbsp;Yixuan Ye ,&nbsp;Xiao Jia ,&nbsp;Yalin Dong ,&nbsp;Han Ding ,&nbsp;Jian Wang ,&nbsp;Chang Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) properly improves fatigue resistance but shows limited processing efficiency on hard-to-deform alloys such as Ti6Al4V due to their high deformation resistance. This study employs an emerging electropulsing-assisted UNSM (EP-UNSM) approach that integrates pulsed current with conventional UNSM to improve strengthening efficiency and associated surface integrity. However, strain localization-induced nanocrystalline plastic instability may lead to fatigue deterioration under low cycle fatigue regimes. To clarify these aspects, systematic microstructure characterization and mechanical testing were conducted to determine the pathways by which EP-UNSM alters plastic deformation and fatigue strengthening mechanisms. Results reveal that, unlike the planar dislocation slip induced by limited plastic deformation in conventional UNSM, EP-UNSM activates pronounced non-basal dislocations and wavy slip patterns, thereby improving the plasticity and producing a deeper gradient nanostructure layer. Moreover, a dynamic electro-annealing mechanism is proposed that involves the synergistic reconfiguration of metastable dislocations and nanocrystals, forming periodic dislocation cells in EP-UNSM samples, in contrast to the sharp triple-junction grain boundaries observed in conventional UNSM. This microstructure evolution mitigates stress concentration at grain boundaries and enhances compressive residual stress stability, ultimately improving fatigue resistance across all stress regimes. These findings advance understanding of electropulsing-assisted deformation and guide anti-fatigue manufacturing strategies for titanium alloys and other hard-to-deform metals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"213 ","pages":"Article 104343"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145396509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel in-situ field-assisted powder bed laser fusion using liquid metal enabling microstructure control and strength enhancement of austenitic steel","authors":"Xiaoyu Liang ,&nbsp;Yurong Wang ,&nbsp;Wei Liu ,&nbsp;Buwei Xiao ,&nbsp;Qingze Liu ,&nbsp;Yizhuo Sun ,&nbsp;Pengcheng Lv ,&nbsp;Huabei Peng ,&nbsp;Jun Zhou ,&nbsp;Lei Zhang ,&nbsp;Feng Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104334","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104334","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The layer-by-layer powder bed additive manufacturing approach, which encapsulates the workpiece in powder during processing, imposes limitations on the integration of in-situ field assistance and enhances production costs. In this work, a novel laser powder bed fusion has been proposed in which the layer-wise accumulated powder bed is replaced by a thin powder layer floating on the liquid Sn. Such a liquid-metal-assisted laser powder bed fusion presents unique advantages: the characteristic thermal history of deposited materials due to high thermal conductivity and fluidity of liquid metals provides greater possibilities for microstructure modulation; the recyclable liquid metal also reduces the need for powder in the forming cylinder and reduces the number of times the powder is reused. Based on the normalized process diagram of liquid-metal-assisted laser powder bed fusion, forming experiments were carried out on the austenitic stainless steels, and the mechanisms underlying the regulation of fine-grain regions were investigated, along with an analysis of the microstructure of this region. Results indicated that the high cooling rate during liquid-metal-assisted laser powder bed fusion led to a finer microstructure and a heterogeneous grain structure ranging from submicron to micron scales in the austenitic stainless steels. The formed heterogeneous austenitic steel exhibits a yield strength surpassing 1.1 GPa and a tensile strength of 1.5 GPa, while retaining an average uniform elongation of 7 %. The in-situ heat treatment principles using liquid metal demonstrated in this work have significant applicability across various additive manufacturing processes and precipitation-hardening alloys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 104334"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The typical cellular microstructures developed in powder-based additively manufactured metallic materials: formation mechanisms, properties, outlooks and challenges","authors":"Jianying Wang ,&nbsp;Heng Li ,&nbsp;M.W. Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104332","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104332","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cellular microstructures are intrinsically associated with the printability and mechanical-functional performance of laser-additively manufactured metallic materials. An in-depth understanding of formation mechanisms under extreme processing conditions and impacts on mechanical-functional performance remains critical to improving the application prospects of laser additive manufacturing. In this paper, vital insights into the characteristics, formation mechanisms, mechanical-functional performance, and prospects of cellular microstructures are orchestrated and articulated. First, the differences between dislocation cellular microstructures obtained from conventional methods and those induced by additive manufacturing are summarised through a comparative analysis. Based on the diverse environments of sub-boundaries, almost all cellular microstructures in metallic materials are then exemplified and classified into three categories: dislocation-formed cellular microstructures, both with and without elemental segregation, and eutectic-formed cellular microstructures. For each category, its formation mechanisms related to analysis approaches and evaluation of mechanical-functional performance are delineated and discussed in detail. Finally, insights into the formation mechanisms, model development, thermal stability of cellular microstructures, and countermeasures for aspects of their negative influence on printability and performance are presented. Collectively, this systematic review of cellular microstructures provides a foundational framework to guide the design, manufacture, and industrial-scale implementation of high-performance metallic components.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 104332"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145046565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manufacturing limit and structural scale effect of thin-wall/rod units in lattice structure fabricated by laser powder bed fusion","authors":"Qiao Zhong,&nbsp;Mengxiao Jin,&nbsp;Shihao Bie,&nbsp;Liying Meng,&nbsp;Yisong Wang,&nbsp;Kaiwen Wei,&nbsp;Jiapei Liu,&nbsp;Jianqiang Gong,&nbsp;Yu Yang,&nbsp;Anqi Ouyang,&nbsp;Xiangyou Li,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104323","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104323","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The growing maturity of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, represented by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), has greatly facilitated the design and manufacturing of lattice structure. However, the process constraints of the minimum features (thin-wall/rod units) in lattice structure remains poorly understood. This study investigated the manufacturing limits and the relevant failure mechanism of thin-wall/rod units fabricated by LPBF. The effects of structural scale (dimension and inclination angle) on surface morphology, microstructure, and mechanical properties were also studied. Results indicate that the failure of thin-wall/rod units at critical dimension and inclination angle was driven by interlayer molten track mismatch and warping effect in cantilever region, respectively. AM process simulations reveal that rod unit exhibit better manufacturability at small inclination angles compared to thin-wall unit, due to less significant stress deformation. A clear dependence of defect behavior, surface morphology and microstructural characteristics on structural scale is identified. A multi-physics model was created to observe the development of down-skin surface quality of the thin-wall units at small inclination angles. Microstructural analysis reveals transitions between super-refined equiaxed grains, millimeter-long columnar grains, and centimeter-long columnar grains at different scale governed by temperature gradient and grain competitive mechanisms. Additionally, a declining tendency in tensile strength is detected with decreasing feature dimension and inclination angle, primarily because the poor side surface quality and higher porosity accelerated crack initiation and propagation. Moreover, two types of lattice structures were fabricated accordingly. Their characterization results confirm the applicability of the new findings from thin-wall/rod unit experiments, providing insights for the efficient manufacturing of lattice structures endowed with excellent performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 104323"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144989499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights into hydrodynamic self-balancing mechanics in adaptive float machining process for nanometric form error control","authors":"Fang Han,&nbsp;Jingyuan Wang,&nbsp;Wei Gao,&nbsp;Shuai Wang,&nbsp;Bingchun Jia,&nbsp;Cao-Yang Xue,&nbsp;Weijian Zhang,&nbsp;Bing-Feng Ju,&nbsp;Wule Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104333","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104333","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With advances in semiconductor and aerospace industries, the demand for components with atomic and close-to-atomic scale accuracy is paramount. As a non-contact method, float machining is showing great potential for excellent surface finishing, where the adaptive fluid film between the tool and workpiece plays an essential role. However, its dynamic self-balancing mechanics remains unexplored, without revealing which, the outcome of extreme accuracy could be hardly touched or controlled. To address this issue, a hydrodynamic coupling dataset driven hydrodynamic model with in-situ force-position sensing approach is proposed. This work presents the first systematic elucidation of the transient processes governing the fluid film-tool interaction as the system achieves a balancing state. Simulation and experiments were conducted to demonstrate the adaptive film evolution route, and its relation to the specific process conditions with precise prediction. Insights into the intermediate states and inherent self-balancing mechanism enable exceptional form control ability, namely deterministic removal of 3 nm in depth across an arbitrary 3 mm region. Subsequently, a sinusoidal hyperbolic freeform with form error within ±2 nm PV over a 5 mm region was fabricated using only a stepper-motor platform, and the underlying process produces an atomically ordered, damage-free subsurface. Furthermore, the capability for non-uniform machining was verified by fabricating compound-eye structures and correcting curved surfaces to nanometric form accuracy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"212 ","pages":"Article 104333"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145096895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the surface polishability and hardness-softening mechanisms of martensitic mould steel in multi-mode nanosecond laser polishing","authors":"Erju Liu ,&nbsp;Donghe Zhang ,&nbsp;La Han ,&nbsp;Zhikun Liu ,&nbsp;Debin Shan ,&nbsp;Bin Guo ,&nbsp;Jie Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104311","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104311","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Laser polishing is an efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly surface-finishing technique aimed at improving the surface quality. However, its application to martensitic mould steel is limited by surface-softening issues induced by the pronounced thermal effects of conventional continuous-wave laser polishing. This study proposes a multi-mode nanosecond laser polishing approach that employs a millimetre-diameter beam with top-hat energy distribution to mitigate the thermal effects and alleviate surface softening. A key challenge is achieving high-quality polishing at shallow melting depths. Further, the proposed process may alter the surface-softening mechanism when considering the unique phase-transformation behaviour of martensitic mould steel. To clarify these aspects, the characteristics of multi-mode nanosecond laser polishing, related to the process and properties, are investigated via finite-element simulations and experiments. The results demonstrate that, unlike the multi-directional melt flow induced by the intense melt pool reaction in continuous-wave laser polishing, multi-mode nanosecond laser polishing drives long-range horizontal melt flow and simultaneously induces multiple convex peaks to fill concave valleys, thereby achieving high-quality surface smoothing (Sa = 0.23 μm) with a minimal melting depth (&lt;2 μm). Moreover, a novel surface-softening mechanism involving the synergistic induction of residual austenite enrichment (up to 90 %) in the fusion zone and martensite tempering effects in the heat-affected zone is presented, which contrasts with the traditional mechanism that relies solely on tempering-induced softening in the heat-affected zone. This study presents a low-thermal-effect, high-quality, and high-efficiency polishing solution for metal components, while advancing the theoretical understanding of hardness-softening mechanisms in the laser manufacturing of martensitic steel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14011,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 104311"},"PeriodicalIF":18.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144724029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}