Laser glazing is involves melting a thin surface layer of cast iron followed by rapid solidification.

The resulting surface is a super-hard, crack free, and with high lubricity, also known as metallic glass. This phase of Iron-carbon is known as ledeburite, which is a cementite-martensite and retained austenite composition that has very hard properties, typically greater than > 60 HRC. The depth of this glazed layer is approximately 100 microns Laser cladding has been defined asa process which is used to fuse with a laser beamanother material which has different metallurgical properties on a substrate, whereby only a very thinlayer of the substrate has to be melted in order toachieve metallurgical bonding with minimal dilution of added material and substrate in order to maintainthe original properties of the coating material Amethod of depositing material by which a powdered or wire feedstock material is melted and consolidated by useof a laser in order to coat part of a substrate or fabricate anear-net shape part. It is often used to improve mechanicalproperties or increase corrosionresistance, repair worn out parts, andfabricate metal matrix composites. The powder used in laser cladding isnormally of a metallic nature, and isinjected into the system by either coaxialor lateral nozzles. n laser transformation hardening, which involves using a laser as a heat source, the beamenergy is applied to harden a surface with the rest of the component acting as a heat sink avoiding surface melting. Laser transformation hardening similar to other localised hardening processes such as flame hardening, induction hardening and electron beam hardening,selectively heat treats the surface of the steel to reach austenitisation temperature to therequired depth and then quenched very rapidly to obtain martensite. These processes areusually applicable if it is not required to harden an entire part, the reason is that wear or highstress is localised, hence only well defined small areas need to be hard. Also it isadvantageous to have most of a component tough and ductile, whereas martensite is very hardand brittle.Laser transformation hardening competes with many established methods of surfacetreatment. This is one reason why its uptake has been relatively slow: a very good technicaland economic case must be made before an existing process is replaced. Table 2.1 summarises the principal features of laser hardening and its competing techniques. Theadvantages and drawbacks of laser hardening can best be summarised by comparing the process with these competing techniques[