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SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Issue 132
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Marking Polyacetal (Delrin) Components
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Marking Glass Bulbs
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Cutting Inconel Tubing
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SYNRAD's sealed CO2 lasers are used in a variety of industrial processes including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking. This news brief showcases some of the interesting materials and products that are processed daily by Synrad's line of CO2 lasers and marking heads.
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Marking Polyacetal (Delrin) Components
Polyacetal, also called POM or polyoxymethylene, and widely known under the tradename Delrin® is often used to manufacture lightweight parts that often replace heavier metal components. Polyacetal is an engineered thermoplastic polymer that features high wear resistance, high flexure fatigue strength, and excellent dimensional stability. It is easily formed by various molding processes including injection, compression, or blow molding, by extrusion, or by rotational casting.
The requirement for this application is to mark a molded valve body. Because polyacetal produces a slightly contrasting, engraved mark, the identification information is not readily visible (or distracting) to the consumer, but is easily seen on close inspection. The engraved mark is permanent and will not wipe off or smear if exposed to chemicals or cleaners.
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The molded Delrin part above exhibits a crisp, clean engraved mark and requires only 10 watts of power
at a mark velocity of 15 inches per second.
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To create the text string shown in the photo, we used a Synrad sealed CO2 laser and an FH Series marking head driven by our WinMark Pro laser marking software. The FH Index head is equipped with a 125 mm lens that provides a 180-micron (0.007”) focused spot with a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus spanning a maximum mark area of 85 mm × 105 mm (3.4” × 4.2”).
In WinMark Pro, we created a text object with the desired Text Caption, selected an outlined TrueType® font (Arial) for clarity and set a Text Height of 4.43 mm (0.1745”). On the Marking tab, we set a Velocity of 381 mm/second (15 inches/second) and a Power (PWM duty cycle percentage) corresponding to 10 watts. With these parameters, we marked the 13-character, two-line text string in a cycle time of 0.70 seconds per piece.
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Marking Glass Bulbs
CO2 lasers continue to replace inkjet and sandblast equipment in many glass-marking applications including automotive side glass, residential/commercial window glass, microscope slides, cathode ray tubes, and now glass light bulbs.
The accompanying close-up photo shows our laser mark on the base of a miniature bi-pin glass bulb. This sharp, facture-free mark was created using a Synrad laser, FH Series marking head, and our WinMark Pro laser marking software. The hardware setup included the installation of an 80 mm FH lens that provides a 116-micron (0.005”) focused spot with a 0.8 mm (0.032”) depth of field.
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This sharp, facture-free mark was created using
a Synrad laser, FH Series marking head, and
our WinMark Pro laser marking software.
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The mark file consisted of a five-character part number using our “Simple” font, one of WinMark’s twelve built-in stroke fonts. The Text Height property was set to 1.8 mm (0.0694”), which results in an actual mark area measuring only 4.9 mm wide, by 1.3 mm high (0.1928” × 0.0514”). Marking properties for this file included a Velocity of 508 mm/second (20 inches/sec) and a Power (duty cycle percentage) corresponding to 25 watts. In addition, Spot Marking Style is set to “Yes” with a Spot Mark Duration of “4” (400 microsecond pulses). Using these parameters, we achieved crisp, permanent marks at cycle times of 0.19 seconds per bulb.
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Cutting Inconel Tubing
Inconel® refers to a family of nickel-based superalloys containing substantial amounts of nickel and chromium. Depending on the particular alloy, Inconel may contain other elements including titanium, aluminum, molybdenum, or niobium (columbium). Parts manufactured from Inconel are commonly found in aerospace or chemical processing applications where extreme heat or corrosion resistance is paramount to the integrity of the product.
This application calls for cutting thin sections of large-diameter, thin-wall Inconel tubing. Each section is cut from 114.3 mm (4.5”) diameter tube having a wall thickness of 0.254 mm (0.010”). Because each Inconel ring section is less than 1.37 mm (0.054”) wide, non-contact CO2 laser cutting is the optimal choice as mechanical cutting methods would distort the ring.
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We cut this 0.010” thick Inconel ring using 400 watts of power at a rotational speed of 10 RPM, which corresponds to a linear cut speed of 3.58 meters per minute (141 inches/minute).
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Our setup consisted of a Firestar f400 laser, standard beam delivery components (featuring a 2.5” positive meniscus optic to achieve a 100-micron spot), and a rotary stage to turn the tubing mandrel. At a rotational speed of 10 RPM, we cut each ring with 400 watts of power using 17.2 bar (250 PSI) of nitrogen gas assist. The high-pressure nitrogen assist creates a clean edge with only a very slight amount of dross present.
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Browse Synrad's Applications Database
Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry.
http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm
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Tradeshows
See the latest products from Synrad on display at the following trade shows:
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March 14-15, 2006
Hynes Convention Center
Boston, MA
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March 21-23, 2006
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Rosemont (Chicago), IL
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Contact Us:
Synrad, Inc.
4600 Campus Place
Mukilteo, WA 98275
Tel: 1-425-349-3500
Fax: 1-425-349-3667
E-mail: synrad@synrad.com
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Copyright © 2006 SYNRAD, Inc. All rights reserved.
SYNRAD and Synrad product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNRAD, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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