What are the advantages of laser marking? - Pryor Technology

Laser marking, the process of using lasers to engrave or mark surfaces, has gained widespread popularity due to its numerous advantages over traditional marking methods. This technique is employed for various applications, including adding human-readable information for traceability, incorporating 2D codes to provide additional data on products, or simply marking logos. Laser marking stands out for its efficiency, versatility, and durability, making it the technology of choice where quality is paramount. The recent reduction in laser costs, driven by IPG, has made laser marking systems highly affordable. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the key advantages that make laser marking a superior choice in the realm of surface marking.

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Speed and Efficiency

Laser marking is a fast and efficient process that can mark multiple parts simultaneously, saving time and increasing productivity. This is particularly important in industries where high throughput and rapid processing times are required.  With laser marking it is also possible to mark components ‘on-the-fly‘ and achieve a marking rate of up to 4 parts in 1 second. Additionally, laser marking is a non-contact process, which eliminates the risk of damage to delicate or fragile parts, ensuring higher yields and reduced scrap rates and also means that complicated fixturing is not required.

Precision and Accuracy

Laser marking offers unparalleled precision and accuracy in marking various surfaces. The laser beam is extremely fine and can create very small, intricate designs and markings that would be impossible to achieve with other methods. This makes it ideal for marking small parts, including those with complex geometries. The accuracy and precision of laser marking are particularly important in industries where even the slightest error can result in product failure or safety concerns. This precision is achieved by using a focused beam of light, which can be adjusted to achieve different depths and widths of markings.

Durability and Longevity

Another major advantage of laser marking is its durability and longevity. The markings created by laser are permanent and will not fade or wear off over time. This makes them ideal for industrial applications, where the products are subjected to harsh conditions, such as exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures, or high levels of wear and tear. The permanence of laser markings also ensures that important information such as serial numbers, 2D codes, and logos remain legible throughout the product’s lifespan.

Versatility

Laser marking is a versatile technique that can be used to mark a wide range of materials, including metals, plastics, ceramics, and composites. This versatility makes it an attractive option for a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, medical, and electronics, among others. Moreover, laser marking can be used for both surface and deep marking, allowing for a wide range of applications across all industry sectors

Environmentally Friendly

Unlike some traditional marking methods, such as inkjet or chemical etching, laser marking is an environmentally friendly process. It does not normally produce any toxic fumes or waste, making it a sustainable and eco-friendly solution. Additionally, laser marking does not require any consumables, such as ink or chemicals, which further reduces waste and cost.

In conclusion, laser marking is a highly efficient, precise, and versatile marking technique that offers several advantages over traditional marking methods. Its durability, accuracy, and eco-friendliness make it an attractive option for a variety of industries. With advancements in laser technology, the applications for laser marking continue to expand, offering new possibilities for manufacturers to improve their products and process, whilst ensuring that part traceability requirements are met.

The laser cutting process uses a tightly focused high-energy light/radiation laser beam to create rapid, high-temperature-gradient heating of a single, small-diameter spot. This triggers rapid melting/vaporization of the target material, allowing the spot to travel down through the material thickness rapidly and precisely. 

The hot spot is blasted with gas, blowing away the melted/vaporized material. This process exposes the cut bottom to allow renewed melting and localized cooling, enabling the cut to proceed. For lighter and more reactive metals, the gas assist uses nitrogen to minimize oxidation. Alternatively, for steel, oxygen assistance accelerates the cut process by locally oxidizing material to assist in slag clearance and reduce the reattachment of melted/cut material.

Laser cutting machines are built in a variety of formats. The most common type keeps the workpiece stationary while laser optics (mirrors) move in both the X and Y axes. Alternatively, a “fixed optic” format keeps the laser head stationary and the workpiece moves. A third option is a hybrid of the two previous methods. All methods execute 2D and 2.5D G-code patterns using a computer-controlled programming system to deliver fully automated, complex cutting paths. Figure 1 is an example of a laser cutting process:

Laser cutting advantages include: high precision, no material contamination, high speed, unlimited 2D complexity, a wide variety of materials, and a wide variety of applications and industries.

High Precision

The narrowness of the energy beam and the precision with which the material and/or the laser optics can be moved ensures extremely high cutting quality. Laser cutting allows the execution of intricate designs that can be cut at high feed rates, even in difficult or fragile material substrates.

No Material Contamination

Traditional rotary cutter processing of materials requires coolants to be applied. The coolant can contaminate the cut parts, which must then be de-greased. Grinding processes may also require coolant/lubricant to be applied. The ablation of the grinding wheel, a natural part of the process, leaves carbide granules that are a hazard in many products. Similarly, water cutting leaves garnet residues. Laser cutting involves only energy and gases and poses no risk of material contamination of the resulting parts.

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High Speed

Few production methods can come close in processing speed to laser cutting. The ability to cut a 40 mm steel sheet using a 12 kW oxygen-assisted laser provides speeds some 10x faster than a bandsaw and 50–100 times faster than wire cutting.

Unlimited 2D Complexity

Laser cutting allows intricacy through the nature of the G-code movement control method of positioning and the small size of the applied energy hot spot. Features that are only weakly attached to the main body are cut without any application of force, so the process is essentially limited by material properties, rather than process capabilities.

Variety of Materials

Laser cutting is a flexible technology that can be adapted to cut widely different materials efficiently, including: acrylic and other polymers, stainless steel, mild steel, titanium, hastelloy, and tungsten. This versatility is increasing as technology develops. For example, dual frequency lasers can be applied to cut carbon fiber reinforced composites—one frequency for the fiber, one for the bonding agent.

Variety of Applications and Industries

Laser cutting finds application in many manufacturing industries because of the combination of versatility, high processing speeds, and precision. Sheet materials are key to production across most manufacturing industries. Applications of laser cutting across industries include: airframes, ships, medical implants, electronics, prototyping, and mass production.

Laser Cutting Disadvantages

Laser cutting disadvantages include: limitations on material thickness, harmful gases and fumes, high energy consumption, and upfront costs.

Limitation on Material Thickness

Most laser cutting machines sit in the <6 kW range. Their cut depth is limited to ~12 mm in metal thickness—and they accomplish that only slowly (~10 mm/s). It requires the largest and most powerful machines to reach the practical limits of cutting. However, similar limits apply to waterjet and wire erosion cutting. All three processes perform these deeper cuts faster than can otherwise be achieved.

Harmful Gases and Fumes

While many materials—particularly metals—do not produce harmful gases in the cutting process, many polymers and some metals do. For example, PTFE and various fluoropolymers produce phosgene gas (which is incompatible with human environments) when heated to high temperatures. These materials require controlled atmosphere processing.

High Energy Consumption

Laser cutting machines have a higher energy consumption rate than other cutting tools. A 3-axis CNC machine cutting out 40 mm steel plate blanks will consume around 1/10th of the power of a laser cutting machine extracting the same part. However, if the processing time is 1 minute on the laser cutter and 20 minutes on the CNC, the net power usage is 2:1 in favor of the laser cutter. Each part will have a different profile in this regard, but the differentials are rarely simple to analyze.

The alternatives to laser cutting are wire cutting, plasma cutting, waterjet cutting, and CNC machining.

Plasma Cutting

Plasma cutting is similar to electrical discharge machining (EDM) in that it erodes material by applying an arc to ablate the substrate. However, the arc is conducted from an electrode on a superheated gas plasma stream that directs the arc and blasts out the molten material from the cut. Plasma cutting and laser cutting are similar in that both are capable of cutting metal parts. Additionally, plasma cutting is suited to heavy materials and relatively coarse processing, for example, preparing heavy steel components for architectural and ship projects. It is a much less clean process and generally requires significant post-cut cleanup to make presentable parts, unlike laser cutting.

Waterjet Cutting

Waterjet cutting is typically a small machine process for the precise processing of a wide range of materials. The garnet abrasive employed is considerably harder than the majority of processed materials, but the hardest workpieces do pose a challenge for the process. Waterjet cannot match the processing speeds of laser cutting on thicker, hard substrates. In terms of similarities, both waterjet cutting and laser cutting produce high-quality cut parts, are suitable for working with many materials, and both processes have a small kerf (cut) width.

CNC Machining

CNC machining is considered one of the more traditional methods of extracting parts from flat material stock. It is similar to laser cutting in that both produce high-precision parts, are fast, reliable, and provide excellent repeatability. Compared to laser cutting, CNC requires more setup and more processing time. CNC also delivers lower throughput/capacity and requires greater manual intervention. However, results can be of similar quality, albeit at a generally higher cost. Rotating cutting tools apply considerable forces to the cut material and can result in more extensive local heating. The main advantages of CNC processing are the ability to accommodate complex 3D designs and to perform partial depth (rather than through) cuts.

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