Important considerations for laser marking an identifier on aluminum

摘要

Industrial laser marking of aluminium is becoming a keyrntechnology for both metal producers and transformers. Its lowrnmaintenance and consumables costs due to the fiber-based laserrnsources, combined with the speed and precision of the markingrnprocess makes it a very attractive tool for such industries. Thisrnpaper aims to explain how to obtain and maintain good contrastrnlaser identifiers on aluminium at various temperatures. The mostrnimportant laser parameters (spot size, marking speed and linernspacing) are analyzed with regards to their effect on thernachievable contrast. The results indicate a significant variation ofrnthe optimal parameters for the studied temperature range, i.e.rnbetween 25℃ and 400℃. The marking system tolerance to thernpiece positioning is also analysed for two different opticalrnconfigurations.