Abstract: In this paper,a thermal elastic-plastic 2-D finite element model of stress generation during laser transformation hardening process was developed. In this model, the mechanical properties of the material, Young's modules E, Poisson's ratio v, yield limit s, and thermal expansion coefficient α, are all change with temperature. The equivalent expansion method was used to deal with the problem with phase transformation. Based on this model, a program to calculate the residual stress field was developed using FORTRAN language. The residual stress fields in CO2 laser transformation hardened MoCu nodular iron were calculated. The calculated results showed that in the transformation hardened zone, the residual stress state is compress,whereas adjacent to this zone the residual stress state is tensile, and there is a tensile stress peak close to the transformation hardened zone. To verify this model, the residual stress fields were measured using X-ray diffraction method. The calculated results of residual stress fields are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Key words: laser, transformation, hardening, stress field, fine element