Craters forming mechanism of high speed steel irradiated by intense pulsed ion beam

Intense pulsed ion beam (IPIB) is regarded as a material surface treatment technology due to its energy compression in temporal and spatial scales. However, the craters induced by IPIB irradiation limit its application. Therefore, the study about the forming mechanism of craters is crucial for the development of this technology. In this work, craters on the surface of high speed steel after IPIB irradiation were studied. The analysis revealed that the inclusions in steel was contributed to crater formation. It was found that the feature of inclusions in steel determined the topography of craters on material surface directly. The surface thermal field simulation showed that the inclusions will be vaporized prior to adjacent matrix. Partial evaporization of inclusions have been certified to drive the melt flow forming craters. The result is useful to understand the forming mechanism of a sort of craters induced by IPIB on steel surface.