Experimental Studies on Laser Marking Characteristics of Stainless Steel 304

Laser marking is the process to mark an object by utilizing the thermal energy of the laser beam. It is a non-contact permanent marking generally used for product identification and traceability. The paper focuses on the production of good quality laser marked surface of stainless steel 304 in a minimal possible time with good marking characteristics by fiber laser. The experiments were performed by scanning the fiber laser for a single pass. The process parameters undertaken for producing good marks on an object were laser power, scanning speed, pulse frequency and they were varied one at a time. Moreover, the use of assist gas pressure i.e. air seems to be less effective in achieving better marking characteristics. Experimental studies revealed that laser power of 20 W, scanning speed of 20 mm/s and pulse frequency of 105 kHz seem to be appropriate parameters which could be selected for better value of marking characteristics such as mark intensity and mark width.